As the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as “fantastic”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, distinct type of climate has emerged in the country, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East 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 has lived in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East now as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to America for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
