When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy 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 harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. 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 seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, 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 the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention 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 demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes 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, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
