As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
