When the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in the Big Apple, she is not only considering what humor to tell. She also weighs which topics to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she ventures there, she makes certain it isn't recorded for online platforms. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, thirty-nine, resided in the Chinese metropolis for almost ten years, departing in that year. In 2025, she relocated to America. Upon arrival, she dove into an intense period of “revenge bingeing on freedom,” attending talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
However in the year after the president returned to office again, there's been a noticeable shift in the environment, she notes. “Back home, I knew where the line was, whereas in the US I'm standing on shifting sands.”
Her concerns reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in China, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects total allegiance. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in economic tensions on Thursday, the bonhomie between the two leaders of countries with diametrically opposed political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with China could assist the rising power become more open, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in China's path, instead of the other way around.
“The United States is undergoing an era of societal upheaval,” stated a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The top leader, Trump, is trying to mobilise the masses to marginalize or undermine the elite … reminiscent of what happened in China decades past.”
Ever since Trump initiated the so-called a government streamlining body, or the agency, on federal institutions early on of his term, many in China see American governance via the perspective of China's historical period. Whether it is the rallying of the youth to execute presidential directives, or purging institutions of those deemed opposition, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has delivered disorder reminiscent of Mao to the US, though absent equivalent degrees of violence.
However since the turmoil of the early months under Trump has calmed, a new, different kind of climate has emerged in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Lighthouse Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest parallel between the US today and China is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, turned CCP critic, found himself in the eye of a storm this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in China. He has lived in America for several years, having fled China due to harassment from officials.
In September, after the death of a public figure, he posted that the individual was a “scumbag”. Like people across the US – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced significant backlash. His family had personal info leaked and he faced allegations of espionage attempting to divide the US.
“This incident was a real shock. I hadn't thought that something like this would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from online peers, instead of the government, but that kind of public monitoring also has similarities with the East.
“Regarding going after dissenters and starting to surveil public speech on topics deemed controversial … That’s starting to emerge in the US,” said an academic, a scholar at a US university. “That’s something observed in China now as too,” she added, stating that concerns are rising in America of students reporting on teachers, a form of monitoring promoted by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the legal expert, explained that liberal Chinese intellectuals such as him once turned to the US for political inspiration, since openly discussing domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US isn't a ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has declined generally.”
“We used to see America as the symbol of constitutional democracy, but since the new administration, this lighthouse seems to have become dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, at least in private, critical of China’s political system, now perceive it less objectionable than America’s, he stated. “It’s sort of painful to accept this reality … but after the pandemic, the government seems to be doing the right thing in improving the environment and promoting EVs and tech investment,” he noted, while “the West, as represented by the United States, appear declining.”
The government's purchase of stakes in American firms has also drawn comparisons with the East, where the distinction between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, authorities announced it will take an investor in a new company specialising in rare earth processing, after taking similar stakes in other companies it considers vital to the country's safety. The deals have made certain stakeholders nervous 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, several news organisations among others declined to agree to a Pentagon policy that required they only report on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or reversed many of presidential measures, an action that is unthinkable in the nation'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 would remain more free, open, and liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although many intellectuals in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned by default. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “cannot refuse. They dare not to be disobedient.”
Still, people in the US are starting to adopt measures that were once confined to more authoritarian countries. An academic at an American college once outspoken on US-China issues declined to be interviewed for this article. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I actually feel more comfortable to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
