As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … 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, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
