As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers 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 social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
