When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal 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 less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
