As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
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.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
