When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on 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 targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, 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 the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
