As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who 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 espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
