As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year since the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. 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 the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder 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 will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
