When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. 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 governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens 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 China.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … 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 America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
