When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
