As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about 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, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated 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 currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
