When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. 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 appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
