As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging climate in America which many Chinese, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly similar. Opponents face exclusion. The president demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that the US is being pulled in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
But after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, after escaping China because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as too,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see the US as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that would be impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “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 more free, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see US universities yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
