As the standup comedian, an emerging performer, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just thinking about what humor to deliver. Additionally, she weighs what subjects to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the government,” she stated. And when she does, she ensures it's not recorded for online platforms. “I would never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” attending lectures, protests, and delving into New York’s public library.
However over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people with experience in the country, perceive as disturbingly similar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has openly expressed regarding his respect for China's leader, the nation's strongman leader. He has described him as a “great guy”. As they agreed a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of nations with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years 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 the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers see American governance through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the rallying of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though without equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously also feels recognizable to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Dimmer’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP critic, ended up in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in the US for several years, after escaping China due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was “despicable”. Like people nationwide – many of whom were fired as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what typically happens in a repressive state,” Deng said.
Deng’s backlash originated from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting dissenters and monitoring open discourse about issues that are sensitive … It's appearing in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in the East today as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become less luminous”.
Chinese liberals, who are often, 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, authorities appears to be pursuing correct policies in environmental protection and promoting EVs and investing in hi-tech,” Zhang said, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s acquisition of shares in American firms has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become an investor in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms deemed essential for the country's safety. These moves have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a fresh phase of government meddling in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. In October, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have halted or overturned numerous presidential measures, an action that would be unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, who established of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “America might face its gravest challenge of all time, orders of magnitudes worse than currently, and it will still be more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while numerous scholars in China were shocked to see American colleges yield to government demands regarding DEI policies and free speech on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures previously confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university once vocal on bilateral matters declined to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
