As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in Shanghai for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to America. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into the city's library system.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to sideline or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China decades past.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of pupils informing against educators, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to America for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, he stated. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain more free, 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 DEI policies and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to repressive regimes. An academic at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
