As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting 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 president, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. Deng has lived in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today 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 Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
