When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce 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 America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. 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 brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals 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, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
