When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in New York, she is not just thinking about which jokes to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it's not recorded for social media. “I'd never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. Upon arrival, she dove into a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's public library.
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. “In China, I knew the boundaries, while in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of optimism in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it appears as if the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses in order to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the mobilisation of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent equivalent degrees of force.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in China. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing could happen in America – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting dissenters and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said an academic, a scholar at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in China today as well,” she said, adding that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “America isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, 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 “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has prompted parallels with the East, where the line between state and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for the country's safety. The deals have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is unthinkable in the nation's party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “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 liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang observes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned inherently. Administrators, which are appointed by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
