As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
