As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US 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, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked 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 would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
