When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's public library.
But in the year after Donald Trump returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without the same levels of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding DEI policies and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
