When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have made some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
