As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed 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. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. However, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … 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 the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, 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 additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
