As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has 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 an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
