When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
However over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that closer ties with China may help the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
