When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding 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, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, 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 vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
