As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering which jokes to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
But after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – 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.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China now as well,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
