As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, 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 will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
