When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
