When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto the stage in the Big Apple, she's not just considering what humor to deliver. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the government,” she explained. And when she ventures there, she makes certain it's not recorded for online platforms. “I'd never publicly share material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, departing in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on a frenzy of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and delving into New York’s public library.
But in the year after the president was elected again, there's been a noticeable shift in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas here I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her fears mirror a new political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or those who have lived in the country, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects total allegiance. Reporters are targeted. Establishments come under fire.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, the nation's authoritarian figure. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions recently, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different governance models was evident. Following years of optimism in America that improved relations with China may help the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The top leader, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the grassroots to sideline or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in the country decades past.”
Since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions 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 purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump as viewed from China has brought Mao-style chaos to America, albeit absent the same levels of force.
But since the upheaval of the initial period under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Is Less Bright’
The most profound parallel between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
A former police officer, now a CCP critic, found himself in a controversy this year, the likes of which he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, after escaping the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, Deng tweeted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event surprised me deeply. I never imagined such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the government, but such of public monitoring bears similarities with China.
“Regarding going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she added, adding that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
The professor, the Peking University law professor, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing internal affairs in the country is risky. However, “The US isn't some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has worsened generally.”
“We used to see America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, typically, at least in private, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and tech investment,” Zhang said, while “the West, as represented by America, appear in decline.”
The Trump administration’s purchase of shares in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the line between government and business is often blurred.
Recently, authorities stated it will take a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, following comparable shares in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. These moves have left certain stakeholders concerned that America is entering a new era of state intervention in the private sector.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, multiple media outlets among others refused to sign to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on government-authorised information. American judiciary have halted or overturned many of Trump’s actions, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled judiciary.
An analyst, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into the worst crisis of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in the country were surprised to see US universities yield to government demands concerning DEI policies and open discourse on campus, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously outspoken on bilateral matters declined to speak for this article. He said: “The truth is, I am scared of suppression in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid criticizing China's leader now than say anything bad
