When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
But in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
