As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Opponents 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 authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
