When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
