As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year after the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers 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. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
