When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
