When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto the stage in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy 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 the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which in different ways seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs for expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, instead of the state, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
