As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding 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,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
