When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. And when she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The president demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called him as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of force.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound parallel between Trump’s America and China is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs 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 seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – something that should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in the East now as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is risky. But now, “The US is no longer a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the distinction between government and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see American colleges yield to official requests regarding DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, Americans are beginning to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
