When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
