As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
Wang, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year after the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Wang’s fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment 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 government's purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
