When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of 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 masses in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
