When the standup comedian, a rising performer, takes the stage in the Big Apple, she's not only thinking about which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to steer clear of. “I refrain from openly attacking the administration,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't recorded for social media. “I would never publicly share content in which I directly criticize the government … I believe it's a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, departing in that year. By 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to lectures, demonstrations, and exploring New York’s library system.
But in the year since Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “In China, I knew the boundaries, whereas in the US I find myself on shifting sands.”
Her concerns mirror an emerging political reality in the US which many Chinese, or people who have lived in China, find disturbingly familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The leader expects absolute loyalty. Journalists face scrutiny. Institutions come under fire.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s strongman leader. He's called Xi as “fantastic”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between both figures of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. And after decades of hope in America that improved relations with China could assist the growing nation to liberalise, under Trump 2.0, it appears that America is being pulled in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“America is undergoing an era of cultural revolution,” said Zhang Qianfan, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots in order to sideline or weaken established figures … similar to what happened in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump initiated what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on federal institutions at the start of his term, numerous Chinese observers have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to execute presidential directives, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered Mao-style chaos to the US, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But after the upheaval of the early months of the new administration subsided, an unfamiliar, distinct type of climate has emerged in the US, which in different ways also feels familiar to numerous Chinese individuals.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on open expression.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, ended up in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he once faced in China. He resided in the US since 2019, having fled the country because of pressure from officials.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was “despicable”. Similar to others across the US – many of whom lost their jobs as a result of expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage seeking to create division.
“This incident surprised me deeply. I hadn't thought that something like this could happen in America – something that typically happens in an authoritarian country,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and starting to surveil open discourse on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “This is that you see in China now as too,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of surveillance that has been encouraged by the CCP.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him used to look to America for political inspiration, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “America is no longer a god for Chinese liberals. The US's reputation has declined across the board.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Chinese liberals, typically, behind closed doors, skeptical about China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, Zhang said. “It's somewhat difficult to acknowledge this reality … but after the pandemic, the government appears to be pursuing the right thing in environmental protection and developing electric cars and tech investment,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by the United States, appear in decline.”
The government's purchase of shares in US companies has prompted parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in additional firms it considers vital to national security. The deals have made certain stakeholders concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain significant distinctions between Trump’s America and China. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved news. US courts have halted or overturned many of presidential measures, something that is impossible in the nation's CCP-controlled judiciary.
Isaac Stone Fish, the founder of Strategy Risks, specializing in China, said: “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 China were surprised to see American colleges capitulate to official requests regarding diversity and inclusion practices and open discourse on university grounds, in the East, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. Administrators, which are selected by the state, “cannot of saying no. They dare not defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are beginning to adopt measures previously associated with more authoritarian countries. One professor at an American college who was previously vocal on bilateral matters refused to be interviewed for this piece. He stated: “Honestly, I am scared of the censorship here: I genuinely feel more comfortable criticizing China's leader these days than say anything bad
