As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. She also carefully considers what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, perceive as eerily similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models became clear. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China could assist the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in a controversy recently, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of social surveillance bears parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but post-COVID, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed vital to the country's safety. The deals have left some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
