When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though absent the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
