As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities 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 America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have left some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, 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 it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
