When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
But in the year since the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
