As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned 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 ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
