As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in America for several years, having fled China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a form of surveillance promoted by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge 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 “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian 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 is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
