When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
