When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following 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 private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
