As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
