As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled the country due to 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. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
