When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable 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 developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
