As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor 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 surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
