When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, 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 “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens 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 America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
