When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts 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 a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
