America Doesn’t Need 600,000 Chinese ‘Students’ – RedState

In an interview broadcast Monday, President Trump doubled down on his efforts to welcome 600,000 Chinese students over the next two years. He initially floated the idea in August. On both occasions, his statements drew sharp criticism from conservatives.

NOW – Trump claims that bringing 600,000 Chinese students to the United States is a pro-MAGA position because “half the universities in the United States would go bankrupt…I know what MAGA wants better than anyone.” pic.twitter.com/uexYM3Xsgw

– Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) November 11, 2025

Allowing 600,000 Chinese nationals to study at our universities poses a serious national security risk. This is the green light for the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) unrestricted war. China has long exploited American college campuses – and American innovation – to advance its national agenda, including aiming to achieve technological self-sufficiency and dominance in high-tech manufacturing.

READ MORE: Watch: Laura Ingraham Challenges Trump in Interview, Exposes Schisms Within the Movement

There is no way to hide it; China’s actions indicate it is preparing a pre-emptive attack on the United States

China’s National Intelligence Law, enacted in 2017, requires all Chinese companies and nationals, regardless of their location, to support Beijing’s national intelligence work. Article 14 of the law lays the groundwork for Chinese intelligence agencies to impose such cooperation. Students are often forced to spy for the state, and their families risk reprisals if they refuse to comply.

Chinese Student and Scholar Associations (CSSA) lead the CCP’s united front work, monitoring Chinese students, promoting pro-CCP narratives, and silencing dissenting voices. These associations work closely with Chinese embassy officials to advance Beijing’s global campaign of transnational repression through harassment, intimidation, espionage and assault. Some CSSAs have succeeded in preventing anti-CCP figures from speaking at institutions and disrupting other events.

Another channel through which Chinese students share information with Chinese authorities is the Chinese Scholarship Council (CSC). Recipients of scholarships through the CSC are required to provide regular updates of their research projects to the Chinese Consulate and report any dissent to government officials, in accordance with their loyalty pledges.

Beyond academia, Chinese nationals studying in the United States have been caught spying on U.S. military installations and personnel.

Intelligence officials have identified universities as “soft targets” for intellectual property (IP) theft. It is estimated that the U.S. economy loses up to $600 billion annually due to intellectual property theft.

A significant share of Chinese students in the United States – more than half of Chinese doctoral students in the United States in the 2018/19 academic year, a figure that has only increased – are in STEM fields, making the risk of espionage highly detrimental to our national security greater and the argument for restricting – or suspending – visas issued to Chinese students and researchers even stronger.

To make matters worse, there are numerous cases of Chinese students smuggling potential biological weapons – a component of the CCP’s unrestricted warfare – into the United States, including a fungus known as Fusarium graminearumwhich is highly toxic to humans and animals and could cause billions of dollars in economic damage. These individuals had access to research laboratories at the University of Michigan.

SEE ALSO: Chinese national arrested by Justice Department for allegedly trafficking biological materials – and she’s from Wuhan

They didn’t stop: Chinese students attempted to smuggle agricultural bioweapons into the United States

Nearly half of the 277,398 Chinese students in the United States are pursuing higher education. Doctoral programs offer tuition waivers and a generous, taxpayer-funded living stipend.

We currently enrich our chief foreign enemy by training and funding its nationals, most of whom return home after graduation (usually due to the terms of their government-funded scholarships) or are subsequently recruited under the Thousand Talents Plan, a government-run program that seeks to attract talent to support China’s scientific, economic, and military goals and rewards individuals who steal sensitive information and critical foreign technology.

President Trump claimed that if the total number of Chinese students in the United States were cut in half, half of the nation’s universities would “go bankrupt.” Maybe this is what needs to happen. For too long, universities have put short-term financial interests ahead of American national security, without suffering the consequences.

It is clear that the decades-long status quo runs counter to our national interests by opening American higher education to espionage and abuse. Now is the time to seriously reconsider current policy. President Trump must force universities to choose America over China.

The administration should keep in mind that 75% of Trump voters view China as a “high” or “extremely high” threat to U.S. national security, that 91% of Trump voters have expressed concerns about CSSAs, and that 68% of Republican voters support limiting the number of Chinese students in the United States.

Bottom line: America doesn’t need 600,000 Chinese students. The vast majority of MAGAs also seem to agree with this view.

Certainly, this project seems uncharacteristic of the administration. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced in late May the State Department’s intention to “aggressively revoke” visas for Chinese students and “strengthen screening of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.” State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce clearly highlighted the risk:

When it comes to ensuring America’s security, the United States, I can say here, will not tolerate the CCP’s exploitation of American universities or the theft of American intellectual property or research technologies to increase its military power, conduct intelligence research, or suppress opposition voices.

In 2020, the Trump administration rightly issued a proclamation that cut off the entry of Chinese nationals seeking to study in the United States and affiliated with entities supporting China’s military-civil fusion strategy:

PRC authorities are tapping some Chinese students, primarily graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, to act as non-traditional collectors of intellectual property. Thus, PRC students or researchers who study or conduct research beyond undergraduate and who are or have been associated with the PLA are at high risk of being exploited or co-opted by PRC authorities and are a source of particular concern. In light of the foregoing, I have determined that the entry of certain PRC nationals seeking to enter the United States on an F or J visa to study or conduct research in the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States.

Could this plan be part of something more strategic, something bigger – a bargaining chip that will eventually be taken off the table? A negotiating strategy as we work to decouple our critical minerals supply chain from China over the next year? Time will tell.

In the meantime, it is our responsibility to continue to urge the administration to reconsider this plan, which, if implemented, would be a gift to China.

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