When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America 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 China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” 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 parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, 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 while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
