As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Wang’s fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
