As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. 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 library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
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”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
