When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “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, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring the city's public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
But since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled China due to pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
