As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only considering which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publish openly material where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However over the past year since the president returned to office again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on in office, many in China see US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in America since 2019, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event 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.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, authorities seems to be doing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between government and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
