When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in the US for several years, after escaping China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
