When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize authorities … I think this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly similar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. 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 economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems became clear. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China 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 vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in the country 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, many in China see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging institutions of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US since 2019, after escaping China due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash originated from fellow social media users, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, since public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is entering a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that would be impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “America might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that although numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to speak for this piece. He said: “The truth is, I fear of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
