When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as too,” 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 the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain 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 they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
