When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
