When the standup comedian, a rising performer, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she's not just thinking about what humor to tell. She also carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publish openly content in which I openly disparage the government … I think it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on freedom,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into the city's library system.
But over the past year after Donald Trump returned to office for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she says. “Back home, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears reflect a new political reality in the US which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents are ostracised. The leader expects total allegiance. 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 “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the bonhomie between the two leaders of nations with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it seems as if America is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“America is experiencing an era of societal upheaval,” stated Zhang Qianfan, a professor at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or undermine established figures … similar to events in the country decades past.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Be it the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging organizations of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to America, albeit absent the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the early months of the new administration has calmed, a new, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which variously seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between Trump’s America and the East is the crackdown on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in his homeland. Deng has lived in America since 2019, having fled the country due to pressure from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of Charlie Kirk, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments regarding him – he encountered a huge backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I never imagined such a thing would occur in the United States – something that typically happens in a repressive state,” he commented.
His backlash came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” noted Maria Repnikova, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something that you see in the East now as too,” she added, adding that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on educators, a type of monitoring that has been encouraged by the CCP.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to the US for ideals, since public debate on domestic politics in China is dangerous. But now, “The US isn't a god for progressive Chinese. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than America’s, Zhang said. “It’s sort of painful to accept this … 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 “the West, as represented by the United States, seems to be in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn parallels with the East, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government announced it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have left some investors concerned that the US is entering a new era of state intervention in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations among others refused to sign to a defense department rule that demanded reporting solely on government-authorised information. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, something that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, commented: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of all time, far more severe than currently, and it will still be more free, more open, and liberal than the East under its leader.”
The professor observes that although many intellectuals in China were shocked to see US universities capitulate to government demands concerning DEI policies and free speech on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford to be disobedient.”
Nevertheless, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. One professor at a US university who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I am scared of the censorship here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
