When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The government's acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
