As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant 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 that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
