As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year after the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
