When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, 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 reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
