When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
