As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
