When the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year after the president was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit without the same levels of force.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from officials.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by America, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase 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. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
