When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations 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 vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint 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, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
