As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes the stage in New York, she is not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for social media. “I'd never publicly share content where I directly criticize the government … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
But over the past year since the president was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or those with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Journalists face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a brief ceasefire in the trade war on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if America is being pulled in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Since the administration initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, numerous Chinese observers see US politics via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered Mao-style chaos to America, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the upheaval of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the country, which variously seems recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a Chinese Communist party critic, found himself in a controversy recently, the likes of which he once faced in China. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at Georgia State University. “This is that you see in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a form of surveillance promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “America is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about the nation's governance, now perceive it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … 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,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, seems to be declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with China, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still major differences between the US under Trump and China. In October, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. American judiciary have blocked or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's party-dominated judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, specializing in China, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it would remain more free, more open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that although numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship here: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
