As the standup comedian, a rising comedic talent, steps onto her platform in New York, she is not just considering which jokes to tell. She also carefully considers which topics to avoid. “I don't engage in directly attacking the administration,” she explained. Or if she does, she makes certain it isn't captured for social media. “I'd never publish openly material where I openly disparage the government … I believe this is a habit from China.”
The comedian, 39, lived in the Chinese metropolis for nearly a decade, leaving in 2022. In 2025, she relocated to America. When she got there, she embarked on an intense period of “overindulging on democracy,” going to talks, demonstrations, and exploring the city's library system.
However in the year since the president returned to office for the second time, there has been a “palpable change” in the atmosphere, she says. “In China, I understood where the line was, while here I'm standing on unstable ground.”
Her fears mirror a new climate in America which numerous individuals from China, or people with experience in China, find disturbingly familiar. Enemies are ostracised. The leader demands absolute loyalty. Reporters face scrutiny. Establishments are attacked.
Trump has not been shy about his admiration for Xi Jinping, the nation's authoritarian figure. He has described him as a “great guy”. When they reached a temporary truce in the trade war on Thursday, the camaraderie between the two leaders of countries with vastly different political systems was evident. Following years of hope in the US that closer ties with the East could assist the growing nation to liberalise, in the current administration, it appears that the US is being pulled in China's path, rather than vice versa.
“The United States is experiencing a period of societal upheaval,” said a constitutional law expert, an academic at Peking University. “The president, Trump, is trying to mobilise the grassroots to marginalize or undermine the elite … similar to events in the country half a century ago.”
Since Trump unleashed what's termed a government streamlining body, or Doge, on the Washington bureaucracy at the start of his term, many in China have viewed American governance via the perspective of the Cultural Revolution. Whether it is the mobilisation of the youth to carry out presidential directives, or purging organizations of perceived enemies, the president from a Chinese viewpoint has brought Mao-style chaos to America, though without the same levels of violence.
But after the turmoil of the initial period of the new administration has calmed, an unfamiliar, different kind of political atmosphere has settled in the US, which variously seems recognizable to numerous Chinese people.
The most profound similarity between the US today and the East is the suppression on free speech.
A former police officer, turned Chinese Communist party dissenter, ended up in the eye of a storm recently, similar to what he once faced in China. He has lived in the US for several years, having fled the country due to harassment from officials.
Last fall, following the passing of a public figure, he posted that Kirk was a “scumbag”. Similar to others nationwide – who lost their jobs as a result of making negative comments about Kirk – Deng faced a huge backlash. Relatives was doxed and he was accused of being a Chinese spy seeking to create division.
“That event was a real shock. I hadn't thought such a thing would occur in America – what should only happen in a repressive state,” Deng said.
His pile on originated from online peers, rather than the state, but that kind of public monitoring bears parallels with China.
“Regarding targeting those who disagree and monitoring public speech on topics that are sensitive … That’s starting to emerge here,” said an academic, an associate professor at Georgia State University. “This is observed in China now as well,” she said, adding that there were now fears in the US of students reporting on teachers, a type of monitoring promoted by the CCP.
The professor, the legal expert, said that progressive thinkers like himself once turned to America for political inspiration, in part because public debate on domestic politics in the country is dangerous. However, “The US is no longer some kind of god for progressive Chinese. America’s image has worsened across the board.”
“We once viewed America as the symbol of democratic governance, but after Trump took power, that guide appears less luminous”.
Progressive Chinese, who are often, behind closed doors, 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 … but after the pandemic, authorities 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 Trump administration’s purchase of shares in US companies has also drawn parallels with China, where the line between state and private industry is frequently unclear.
On Monday, the US government stated it would become an investor in a new company focused on rare earth processing, following comparable shares in other companies it considers essential for national security. These moves have left some investors concerned that the US is embarking on a new era of government meddling in private industry.
Yet, there remain major differences between the US under Trump and the East. In October, multiple media outlets among others declined to agree to a defense department rule that required reporting solely on approved information. US courts have halted or overturned numerous Trump’s actions, an action that is impossible in China’s party-dominated legal system.
Isaac Stone Fish, who established of a consulting firm, a China-focused advisory firm, said: “The United States could descend into its gravest challenge of all time, far more severe than currently, and it would remain freer, open, and more liberal than China under Xi.”
Zhang notes that although numerous scholars in the country were shocked to see American colleges capitulate to government demands concerning diversity and inclusion practices and free speech on campus, in China, leading institutions are all state-owned inherently. University leaders, which are selected by the government, “cannot of saying no. They can’t afford defy orders.”
Still, people in the US are starting to take precautions that were once confined to repressive regimes. One professor at a US university once outspoken on US-China issues refused to speak for this article. He said: “Honestly, I am scared of suppression here: I actually feel less afraid to criticise Xi these days than say anything bad
Maya Chen is a tech journalist and lifestyle blogger with over a decade of experience covering digital trends and cultural shifts.
