As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
