Certain relevant facts are often downplayed or ignored in criticism of Trump’s effort to withdraw federal funding from Harvard and other universities and willingness to cancel the visas of some foreign students. One is that “Harvard Has Trained So Many Chinese Communist Officials, They Call It Their ‘Party School’ ” (Wall Street Journal, June 1, 2025). That’s not “party” in the sense of beer-keg.
U.S. schools—and one prestigious institution in particular—have long offered up-and-coming Chinese officials a place to study governance, a practice that the Trump administration could end with a new effort to keep out what it says are Chinese students with Communist Party ties.
For decades, the party has sent thousands of mid-career and senior bureaucrats to pursue executive training and postgraduate studies on U.S. campuses, with Harvard University a coveted destination described by some in China as the top “party school” outside the country….
In an effort announced Wednesday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. authorities will tighten criteria for visa applications from China and “aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”
The statement didn’t say how the Trump administration would assess Communist Party ties or what degree of connection would result in revocation of visas. In China, party membership is widely seen as helpful for career advancement—in government and the private sector—and is typically a prerequisite for officials seeking high office….
Some U.S. politicians have said that China’s Communist Party is harvesting expertise in American academia to ultimately harm U.S. interests. The Trump administration has cited these criticisms among others to back its efforts to force a major cultural shift in U.S. colleges, which many conservatives regard as bastions of liberal and left-wing ideology.
Skeptical of Trump Plan
Will such efforts help us reduce the extent to which our academic institutions assist the Chinese Communist Party and Chinese government? The New York Times alerts us that “Experts Who Warn of Risks Posed by Chinese Students Are Skeptical of Trump Plan.” They say that the plan is too heavy-handed and would be counterproductive.
The F.B.I. has spent decades investigating some professors and students from China suspected of using their studies to secretly spy for their home country. As the Trump administration tries a new, more aggressive effort to stop such activity, experts fear it will do more harm than good for American research….
F.B.I. officials have long argued that China is engaged in a relentless and far-reaching effort to steal as much scientific expertise as it can from the United States, to benefit Chinese companies and markets. National security officials say that while much of that suspicious activity occurs in the business world, a great deal also goes on among college researchers. To counter that threat, federal agents have for years delivered classified briefings to select college officials, and broader warnings to colleges generally.
While those efforts have produced a significant number of tips and criminal cases, they also have elicited some controversy and distrust between educators and investigators.
What I gather from the reporting is that there is no perfect way to combat spying and intellectual theft in academia by Chinese students and teachers and others. Past efforts were marred by “controversy and distrust between educators and investigators.” Perhaps educators don’t like being investigated—that’s my guess. Visa applicants may not like it either.
Articles about the threat posed by some Chinese students don’t necessarily mention the role of students who harass other Chinese students—for example, anti-CCP students—at the Party’s behest. The harassers are good candidates for deportation, and it is not too hard to distinguish them from the Chinese students they are harassing.
You can do something imperfect to deal with a widespread problem that shouldn’t be ignored or you can ignore it.
Also see:
The Select Committee on the CCP: “Moolenaar Questions Harvard After Students Harassed During Anti-CCP Protest” (July 1, 2024)
StoptheCCP: “Why U.S. Universities Accept Spying by the Chinese Communist Party” (May 16, 2025)
StoptheCCP: “China’s Donations to Your Alma Mater”
