When the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in New York, she's not only considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I refrain from directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it's not recorded for social media. “I would never publish openly content where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
But in the year since the president returned to office again, there has been a “palpable change” in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those with experience in China, perceive as disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Institutions are attacked.
Trump has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to marginalize or weaken the elite … similar to what happened in China half a century ago.”
Ever since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on of his term, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the rallying of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing institutions of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit without the same levels of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America since 2019, after escaping the country because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His backlash originated from online peers, instead of the government, but such of public monitoring also has parallels with the East.
“Regarding going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something observed in China today as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, that guide seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “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 tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in American firms has prompted parallels with China, where the distinction between state and business is frequently unclear.
Recently, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. These moves have left some investors nervous that America is entering a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
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 Pentagon policy that required reporting solely on approved news. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in China’s party-dominated judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in China, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression in the US: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
