As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
