As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
