As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked 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 would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
