When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance promoted 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 openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
