As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about which jokes to deliver. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't captured for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage authorities … I believe this is a learned behavior from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in Shanghai for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year since the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while in the US I find myself on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Donald Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute the leader’s will, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, a new, distinct type of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously also feels familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between the US today and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country due to harassment from the authorities.
In September, after the death of a public figure, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s pile on originated from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but such of social surveillance also has parallels with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech about issues deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” said an academic, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in the East today as too,” she said, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is risky. But now, “The US isn't a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat painful to accept this … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The government's acquisition of stakes in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in additional firms it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. In October, multiple media outlets including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on approved news. American judiciary have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “The United States might face its gravest challenge 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.”
Zhang observes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities capitulate to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on campus, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are appointed by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, Americans are beginning to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. An academic at a US university who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I fear of the censorship here: I actually feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
