As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year since the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed 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 the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
