When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
