As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, 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.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
