As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, 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 the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge 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, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
