As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
However in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in the US that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though absent the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the country, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in America for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance bears similarities with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself once turned to America for ideals, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't a ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America 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, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have made some investors concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
