View email in browser. ([link removed])
[link removed]
CounterCurrent:
Rolling Out the Welcome Mat
The Trump administration should proceed with caution instead of welcoming malign foreign influences with open arms into American higher education
CounterCurrent is the National Association of Scholars’ weekly newsletter, bringing you the most significant issues in academia and our responses to them.
[link removed]
Category: Foreign Influence, China, Higher Ed;
Reading Time: ~5 minutes
------------------------------------------------------------
** Featured Article: “Trump’s Proposal for Chinese Students is a Recipe for Disaster—and May Lose the U.S. Its Next War” ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
The Trump administration has rolled out the welcome mat for Chinese students.
A few months ago, when Chinese President Xi Jinping held a meeting with President Trump regarding the ongoing trade war between China and the United States, President Xi requested that Chinese students maintain access to American higher education in exchange for China reducing tariffs and the United States receiving continued access to rare earth materials. Trade talks have been ongoing, and last week ([link removed]) , President Trump made a statement that he intends to welcome 600,000 Chinese students into American colleges and universities, more than doubling the number of Chinese students currently enrolled.
Though the trade deal is not set in stone, this is surprising for a number of reasons.
First, that Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced back in May that the Department of Homeland Security would “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields”—a decision the National Association of Scholars (NAS) applauded ([link removed]) because of China’s long-standing position as a malign foreign influence in higher education.
Second, Chinese espionage and security threats to the United States have been well-documented. Chinese influence operations on American college and university campuses and throughout our education system have inadvertently equipped China with the technological know-how to outperform us—artificial intelligence capabilities are a perfect case study of this. As a separate example, back in June, two Chinese students were arrested ([link removed]) after attempting to smuggle or ship biological material into the United States for use at the University of Michigan (UM). Following the two separate instances, the Department of Education (ED) opened ([link removed]) an investigation ([link removed]) into UM’s foreign funding under
Section 117. Note that this also came after the ED announced ([link removed]) crackdowns on foreign gifts valuing more than $250,000 per year received by American colleges and universities—a move that NAS has long urged to increase transparency ([link removed]) in higher education.
Why the United States persists in further educating students from adversarial foreign governments—with little to no oversight— is baffling. Especially considering current ED investigations and past instances of China’s malign influence ([link removed]) , some of which were exposed ([link removed]) and shut down ([link removed]) . Or even taking into consideration the credible cases of espionage ([link removed]) and pervasive instances of academic dishonesty ([link removed]) by Chinese students.
While there are bad apples in every bunch, the data seems to suggest that on the whole, China’s interest in American higher education is parasitic. Chris Crandall, in an article ([link removed]) for Minding the Campus, puts it aptly, “As Chinese students continue to flood into American institutions of higher education, domestic students lose, the American economy fails, and our technological competitiveness diminishes.” In a respective article ([link removed]) addressing the situation with China, NAS’s Senior Fellow of Foreign Affairs and Security Studies Ian Oxnevad paints the picture about China’s relationship with American higher education well,
Once accepted to U.S. universities, Chinese students ([link removed]) get 'briefed and debriefed' by Beijing. Even if Chinese students carry pure motives to study in America, they are nonetheless coerced by the CCP ([link removed]) , which can easily threaten family members back in China. On the U.S. side of the equation, American universities are happy to charge foreign students a higher ([link removed]) tuition than American students, effectively incentivized to discriminate against American citizens. As it is, American students are drastically behind
([link removed].) in math and science when compared to their international peers. This is a recipe for geopolitical disaster, and Trump’s proposed policy will throw gasoline on an already well-lit fire.
So, not only does the influx of more Chinese nationals into our colleges and universities pose a threat to American national security and further expose classified research, more foreign students discourages further recruitment of Americans into much needed STEM and novel research fields. While the exchange of ideas between countries is beneficial—especially in education—prioritizing the influx of international students over Americans is not the path to lasting cultural exchange. (My colleague Jared Gould, the managing editor of Minding the Campus, has written ([link removed]) extensively about the H-1B visa program and the many pitfalls ([link removed]) that plague the program.)
When weighing the risks and benefits ([link removed]) of increasing the presence of Chinese students on college and university campuses, the United States government should consider whether it can effectively enhance monitoring and accountability measures to safeguard our national security and technology. These plans should also prioritize the education and careers of American students over foreign nationals. In the past, such accountability measures have fallen short.
Read more ([link removed]) about how the Chinese government influences and corrupts America's colleges and universities in this just-published essay by Peter W. Wood.
Until next week.
Kali Jerrard
Communications Associate
National Association of Scholars
Read the Article ([link removed])
For more on foreign influence, China, and higher ed:
[link removed]
August 29, 2025
** Xi’s Secret Weapon? U.S. Higher Education ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Crandall
Regardless of one’s policy stance on whether Trump made the right decision given the importance of rare earths to the American technological economy, the request by President Xi exposes the importance that the Chinese Communist Party places on the continued access, education, and training of its 277,398 students studying in American universities.
[link removed]
August 20, 2025
** Iran’s Man Departs Princeton—Its President Should Go Too ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Ian Oxnevad
Few sectors of American life are as toxic and dysfunctional as higher education, and yet sometimes delicious rectification happens, and it is a time to savor.
[link removed]
September 29, 2024
** Report: Shadows of Influence ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Neetu Arnold
Foreign funding of American universities remains an open secret. This report details the underreporting of foreign gifts to universities by analyzing a complementary database compiled using public records requests.
** About the NAS
------------------------------------------------------------
The National Association of Scholars, founded in 1987, emboldens reasoned scholarship and propels civil debate. We’re the leading organization of scholars and citizens committed to higher education as the catalyst of American freedom.
============================================================
Follow NAS on social media.
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Twitter ([link removed])
** YouTube ([link removed])
** Website ([link removed])
** Donate ([link removed])
| ** Join ([link removed])
| ** Renew ([link removed])
| ** Bookstore ([link removed])
Copyright © 2025 National Association of Scholars, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website, membership or donation forms, contact forms at events, or by signing open letters.
Our mailing address is:
National Association of Scholars
13 West 36th Street
4th Floor
New York, NY 10018-7138
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
