As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not 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 outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
