As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those who have lived in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives 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 could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East today as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to national security. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
