As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly criticizing the government,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share content where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year after the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of young people to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of force.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping China because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – something that 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 targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
