The chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party recently requested that multiple U.S. universities provide the committee with information on Chinese students studying in the United States, prompting the Chinese government to criticize U.S. lawmakers for “overstretching the concept of national security.”
Last week, Rep. John Moolenaar (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, sent a letter to six of America’s top universities, including Stanford University and Carnegie Mellon.
The letter requested that the universities inform the committee about what types of funding Chinese students received, what programs the students participate in, what research the students conduct, and what universities the students previously studied at. The committee also requested a “country-by-country breakdown of applicants, admittances, and enrollments” at the U.S. universities.
“The Chinese Communist Party has established a well-documented, systematic pipeline to embed researchers in leading U.S. institutions, providing them direct exposure to sensitive technologies with dual-use military applications,” Moolenaar stated in last week’s letter. “America’s student visa system has become a Trojan horse for Beijing. If left unaddressed, this trend will continue to displace American talent, compromise research integrity, and fuel China’s technological ambitions at our expense.”
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According to The Associated Press, Mao Ning, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, has pushed back against the congressional committee’s letter, claiming that Chinese students represent roughly 25% of the international students in the United States and arguing that Chinese students have helped promote “the economic prosperity and technological development of the U.S.”
“This is in the interest of both parties,” Mao told reporters. “We urge the U.S. to stop overstretching the concept of national security, effectively protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students, and not impose discriminatory restrictive measures on Chinese students.”
In a Thursday press release, Mao also called for the United States to “stop brandishing national security as a false pretext and protect the legitimate and lawful rights and interests of Chinese students in the U.S.”
The Daily Caller reported that the Chinese government has spied on the United States for many years, leading the Federal Bureau of Investigation to issue a warning regarding China’s “talent recruitment plans. “China oversees hundreds of talent plans,” the FBI previously stated on its website. “All incentivize its members to steal foreign technologies needed to advance China’s national, military, and economic goals.”
According to The Daily Caller, prior to Moolenaar’s letter, Rep. Riley Moore (R-W.Va.) introduced the “Stop CCP Visas Act” in Congress to “prohibit the admission of Chinese nationals as nonimmigrant students.”
Following backlash against the Republican lawmaker’s bill, Moore told NBC News that he will “never apologize for defending America’s national interests against our greatest geopolitical foe.”