As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
