As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes her platform in New York, she's not just considering what humor to tell. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it's not captured for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s library system.
However over the past year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror an emerging climate in the US which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments come under fire.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed governance models was evident. And after decades of hope in America that closer ties with the East may help the rising power to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is shifting in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is experiencing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken the elite … reminiscent of events in China decades past.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China have viewed American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump as viewed from China has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period under Trump has calmed, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has settled in the country, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and China is the crackdown on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned Chinese Communist party critic, ended up 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 China due to pressure from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – who were fired for making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in the United States – what typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
Deng’s backlash originated from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of social surveillance also has similarities with China.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring public speech about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is observed in the East today as well,” she said, stating that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, explained that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on internal affairs in China is dangerous. However, “America is no longer a ideal for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed the US as the beacon of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, are increasingly finding it less objectionable than America’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, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of stakes in US companies has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between government and business is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have left some investors nervous that America is entering a fresh phase of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or reversed numerous Trump’s actions, something that would be impossible in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “America might face its gravest challenge of its history, orders of magnitudes worse than it is now, and it would remain freer, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor notes that while numerous scholars in the country were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are selected by the state, “cannot refuse. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Still, Americans are starting to adopt measures that were once associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship in the US: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
