As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, find eerily similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. 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 appears that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline 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 the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months 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 Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
