When 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 directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
