When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's public library.
But over the past year after the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, 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, the government 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 America, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
