When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I directly criticize authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
