When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, 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 US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
