As the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in Shanghai for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring the city's library system.
However over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew where the line was, while in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in China, perceive as eerily familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. And after decades of optimism in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or cleansing institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However after the upheaval of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, found himself in a controversy recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from online peers, instead of the state, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in China today as too,” she said, stating that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a type of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to the country's safety. These moves have made some investors nervous that the US is embarking on a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved information. American judiciary have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor observes that while many intellectuals in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to official requests concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, who are appointed by the state, “have no liberty refuse. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues refused to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
