As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked 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 could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
