When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content 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 almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
