As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in the US since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
