When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly content where I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the country, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “America isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
