As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
