As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems 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 CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
