When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “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 would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
