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Key Takeaways
- Trump's proposal to admit 600,000 Chinese students over the next two years has been criticized by foreign policy experts who argue it could further damage the U.S. by enabling espionage and benefitting the Chinese Communist Party.
- Experts like Michael Sobolik warn that Chinese students could exploit the open education system in the U.S. for research theft, while universities might prioritize financial gains from international tuition over national security.
- Critics, including conservative Republicans, argue that this influx could displace American students and overwhelm college resources, while some like the Cato Institute see potential financial benefits from the arrangement.
President Donald Trump’s plan to admit 600,000 Chinese college students over the next two years is a “bad deal” according to foreign policy experts who spoke to The College Fix.
Trump made the announcement after a meeting with South Korean leaders several weeks ago and reiterated the comments in an interview published on Aug. 31 with The Daily Caller. He said the goal is to build a relationship with China. Currently about 300,000 Chinese students study in the U.S. every year.
However, Michael Sobolik with the Hudson Institute said the idea could inflict further damage on the United States by the Chinese Communist Party and striking any agreement with Beijing is “always a bad deal for America.”
“The CCP leverages Chinese students to steal American research and exploits our open education system to censor Chinese nationals on U.S. soil,” Sobolik told The Fix via email. “Universities are complicit in this because they depend on international student tuition rates. Policymakers shouldn’t continue a status quo that favors our enemy and leaves our universities exposed to espionage.”
Trump also said he was letting in more students to help colleges remain afloat, as many rely on the tuition paid by international students.
Ian Oxnevad with the National Association of Scholars said the deal only “benefits American colleges.”
“Colleges already do not do enough to prevent the damage that Chinese students and professors do through suppressing dissident voices, conducting espionage both illicitly and through the guise of ‘fundamental research’ that has rapidly eroded much of America’s qualitative military advantage,” Oxnevad said. “China has similarly benefited from the economic human capital it has accrued through American higher-education.”
According to Oxnevad, Chinese-foreign born students could not only occupy slots meant for American students but also overwhelm American college administrations as they arrive in large numbers. Oxnevad said colleges “are not” equipped to handle the influx of foreign students.
He separately criticized the decision in an essay for Minding the Campus, a publication of NAS.
Oxnevad said Trump’s policy will “effectively hand off scientific expertise to Beijing at America’s expense.”
The decision has drawn criticism from conservative Republican policymakers as well.
“There is a significant percentage of the Chinese students who are engaged by the CCP,” Gov. Desantis said, as reported by Florida Politics. “Why would we be importing foreign workers when we have our own people that we need to take care of?” the governor, and former primary opponent of Trump, said.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote on X that the Chinese students would “replace our American student’s opportunities?” and that it should “never” be allowed.
The Office of Governor Desantis’ and the Office of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene did not reply to The Fix’s multiple phone and email requests for further comment.
The libertarian Cato Institute supports the policy as a “windfall” for the United States, however.
Scholars with the group estimated there would be A “direct financial impact of $32.1 billion.”
It also said national security concerns are overblown.
“Meanwhile, the primary concern about admitting Chinese students—espionage—seems to be overstated,” Neal McCluskey and Kayla Susalla wrote. “And in cases in which securing research is a major concern, such as undertakings with clear military applications, the projects themselves could be classified.”
