As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
