As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
