When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost a decade, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she moved to the US. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year since Donald Trump returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I knew where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new political reality in America which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if the US is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of events in China half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing could happen in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but post-COVID, authorities seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies deemed essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and China. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this piece. 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
