As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. She also weighs what subjects to steer clear of. “I refrain from directly criticizing the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share material where I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a habit acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, resided in the Chinese metropolis for nearly ten years, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to the US. When she got there, she dove into a frenzy of “overindulging on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after Donald Trump was elected again, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood the boundaries, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her concerns reflect a new climate in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in the country, find disturbingly similar. Enemies face exclusion. The leader demands total allegiance. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in the trade war recently, the bonhomie between both figures of countries with vastly different governance models became clear. Following years of hope in the US that improved relations with the East could assist the rising power become more open, under Trump 2.0, it appears as if the US is shifting in China's path, instead of vice versa.
“The United States is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at a top Chinese university. “The president, Donald Trump, is attempting to rally the masses in order to marginalize or undermine established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start in office, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, the president as viewed from China has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, albeit without equivalent degrees of force.
However after the upheaval of the early months under Trump subsided, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has emerged in the US, which in different ways seems familiar to many Chinese individuals.
‘The Lighthouse Is Dimmer’
The most profound similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, the likes of which he once faced in his homeland. He resided in America for several years, having fled China because of harassment from officials.
In September, following the passing of Charlie Kirk, Deng tweeted that the individual was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism about Kirk – he encountered significant backlash. Relatives had personal info leaked and he was accused of espionage seeking to divide the US.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in an authoritarian country,” Deng said.
His backlash came from online peers, rather than the government, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with the East.
“In terms of going after those who disagree and monitoring open discourse on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge here,” noted Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “That’s something that you see in the East today as well,” she added, stating that there were now fears in America of students reporting on educators, a form of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself used to look to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in China is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for Chinese liberals. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We once viewed the US as the symbol of democratic governance, but since the new administration, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, are increasingly finding it more acceptable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has prompted comparisons with China, where the line between government and private industry is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it would become a shareholder in a startup specialising in mineral refinement, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed essential for national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that America is embarking on a new era of government meddling in the private sector.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that demanded they only report on approved information. American judiciary have halted or reversed many of presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in China’s CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of a consulting firm, specializing in China, commented: “America could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
The professor 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 university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, who are appointed by the state, “cannot refuse. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously confined to repressive regimes. An academic at an American college who was previously vocal on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this piece. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I genuinely feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
