As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “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 Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
