In an interview that aired on Monday, President Trump doubled down on his plan to accept 600,000 Chinese students over the next two years. He initially floated this idea in August. On both occasions, his statements drew significant criticism from conservatives.
Allowing 600,000 Chinese nationals to study at our universities poses a grave national security risk. It’s a green light for the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) unrestricted warfare. China has long exploited American college campuses — and American innovation — to further its national agenda, such as aiming to achieve self-sufficiency in technology and dominance in high-tech manufacturing.
China’s National Intelligence Law, enacted in 2017, requires all Chinese companies and nationals, regardless of location, to support Beijing’s national intelligence work. Article 14 of the law lays the foundation for Chinese intelligence agencies to compel such cooperation. Students are frequently coerced into spying for the state, with their families facing retaliation if they refuse to comply.
Chinese Students and Scholars Associations (CSSAs) carry out the CCP’s united front work, surveilling Chinese students, promoting pro-CCP narratives, and silencing dissenting voices. These associations work closely with Chinese embassy officials to advance Beijing’s global transnational repression campaign through harassment, intimidation, espionage, and assault. Some CSSAs have successfully blocked anti-CCP figures from speaking at institutions and disrupted other events.