As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
