When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
