As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just considering what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
But over the past year after the president was elected for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is experiencing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China see American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without the same levels of violence.
However after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, the US government announced it would become a shareholder in a new company specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated 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 its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
