As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked 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 – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
