As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publish openly material in which I directly criticize authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and delving into New York’s library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, perceive as eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The president demands total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Institutions are attacked.
The president has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is being pulled in the Chinese direction, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to sideline or undermine established figures … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without the same levels of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America for several years, having fled China because of pressure from the authorities.
In September, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. His family was doxed and he was accused of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” noted an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East now as well,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of pupils informing against teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America is no longer a ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a new company focused on mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in other companies deemed vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that the US is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States might face the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain more free, open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see US universities yield to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are publicly controlled by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
