When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called 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 China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
