As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that America 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. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
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 it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
