As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she is not only thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for online platforms. “I would never publish openly content where I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there's been a “palpable change” in the environment, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears 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 are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that improved relations with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if America is shifting in the Chinese direction, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to rally the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, ended up in a controversy this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng resided in the US for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is observed in China today as too,” she added, stating that there were now fears in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. But now, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “Western nations, as represented by the United States, seems to be declining.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms it considers essential for national security. The deals have left certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between Trump’s America and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required they only report on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the government, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, Americans are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. One professor at an American college once vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
