As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy 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 bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted 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. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing 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 government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
