When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year after the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today 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 once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – 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 parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US 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 liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad