As the standup comedian, an emerging comedic talent, takes her platform in the Big Apple, she is not just considering which jokes to deliver. Additionally, she carefully considers what subjects to steer clear of. “I don't engage in openly criticizing the government,” she stated. Or if she ventures there, she ensures it isn't captured for social media. “I would never publicly share material in which I openly disparage authorities … I think it's a learned behavior acquired back home.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for almost a decade, leaving in that year. By 2025, she moved to the US. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “revenge bingeing on democracy,” going to talks, protests, and exploring New York’s public library.
But over the past year after Donald Trump was elected for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she notes. “In China, I understood where the line was, whereas here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears reflect an emerging political reality in America which numerous individuals from China, or people who have lived in the country, find eerily familiar. Opponents face exclusion. The president expects absolute loyalty. Journalists are targeted. Establishments are attacked.
The president has not been shy regarding his respect for China's leader, China’s authoritarian figure. He's called him as a “great guy”. When they reached a brief ceasefire in economic tensions on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems became clear. Following years of hope in America that closer ties with China may help the rising power to liberalise, in the current administration, it seems that America is shifting in the Chinese direction, instead of vice versa.
“America is undergoing a period of societal upheaval,” said Zhang Qianfan, a professor at a top Chinese university. “The president, Trump, is attempting to mobilise the masses to sideline or weaken established figures … reminiscent of events in the country half a century ago.”
Ever since the administration unleashed what's termed Department for Government Efficiency, or the agency, on the Washington bureaucracy early on in office, many in China have viewed US politics through the lens of China's historical period. Be it the mobilisation of young people to carry out the leader’s will, or cleansing organizations of perceived enemies, Trump from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without equivalent degrees of violence.
But since the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration subsided, a new, different kind of climate has settled in the US, which in different ways also feels recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
‘The Beacon Has Become Less Bright’
The deepest similarity between Trump’s America and the East is the suppression on free speech.
Deng Haiyan, now a CCP dissenter, found himself in a controversy this year, similar to what he’d only previously experienced in his homeland. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country because of harassment from the authorities.
Last fall, after the death of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – many of whom were fired for expressing criticism regarding him – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he faced allegations of being a Chinese spy attempting to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I never imagined that something like this could happen in America – something that should only happen in a repressive state,” he commented.
His pile on came from fellow social media users, rather than the state, but that kind of social surveillance bears similarities with the East.
“In terms of going after dissenters and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … It's appearing here,” said Maria Repnikova, an associate professor at a US university. “That’s something observed in the East today as well,” she said, stating that concerns are rising in the US of pupils informing against teachers, a form of surveillance that has been encouraged by Chinese authorities.
Zhang, the Peking University law professor, said that progressive thinkers such as him once turned to the US for ideals, in part because openly discussing internal affairs in the country is dangerous. But now, “The US is no longer some kind of ideal for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the beacon of constitutional democracy, but after Trump took power, this lighthouse appears dimmer”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, critical of the nation's governance, now perceive it less objectionable than the US's, Zhang said. “It’s sort of difficult to acknowledge this reality … but post-COVID, authorities appears to be pursuing the right thing in improving the environment and developing electric cars and investing in hi-tech,” he noted, while “Western nations, exemplified by America, seems to be in decline.”
The government's purchase of stakes in US companies has also drawn parallels with the East, where the distinction between state and business is often blurred.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a startup specialising in rare earth processing, after taking comparable shares in additional firms deemed vital to national security. These moves have made some investors nervous that America is embarking on a new era of state intervention in private industry.
There are still significant distinctions between the US under Trump and the East. Last month, several news organisations including the Guardian refused to sign to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on government-authorised news. US courts have blocked or overturned numerous presidential measures, something that is unthinkable in the nation's CCP-controlled legal system.
An analyst, the founder of Strategy Risks, a China-focused advisory firm, commented: “The United States might face its gravest challenge of its history, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, more open, and more liberal than the East under its leader.”
Zhang notes that while many intellectuals in China were surprised to see American colleges yield to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on university grounds, in the East, the top universities are publicly controlled inherently. University leaders, who are selected by the government, “have no liberty of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions previously associated with repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on bilateral matters refused to speak for this piece. He stated: “The truth is, I fear of the censorship in the US: I genuinely feel less afraid to criticise Xi now than say anything bad
