When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
