As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “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. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
