As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
