As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, having fled China because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes 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 government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
