As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
