As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge 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 hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
