As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – 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 being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad