When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year after the president returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation 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 less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation'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, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
