As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions 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 required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
