When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
