As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems 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 a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
