When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a god 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, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US 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 refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
