As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
Wang, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still 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 they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
