As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it's not 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, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. 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 being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
