Editor's note: The editorial piece is based on an interview with Teng Jianqun, director of the Center for Arms Control at the China Institute of International Studies.The article reflects the expeter's opinion, and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
On Aug. 7, US President Donald Trump hosted a dinner at his private golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, for 15 CEOs and senior White House staff. During the meal, he criticized Chinese students by saying "Almost every student that comes over to this country is a spy."
Understandably, some Chinese students planning to pursue their education in the US are now worried their plans could fall through. According to a Financial Times article published on Oct. 2, Stephen Miller, Trump's political adviser, suggested that the president ban all Chinese students from studying in the US. Although Trump rejected Miller's advice, some of his other consultants, such as Peter Navarro, are not willing to give up on their plan to ostracize Chinese students.
The anti-China stance of the Trump administration lies in its uneasiness toward China's economic development. In an attempt to nip in the bud the alleged hidden peril caused by Chinese students on the American economy, the US State Department cut visa periods for Chinese grad students working in sensitive fields from five years to one, after FBI Director Christopher Wray warned of a "whole of society" spying threat.
According to Teng Jianqun, director of the Center for Arms Control at the China Institute of International Studies think tank, Trump's new policy towards Chinese students is the embodiment of the fierce competition between China and the US.
"This is actually a result of the so-called 'strategy competition' between China and the United States," Teng told CGTN. The US sees the rise of China as a treat to its global supremacy. The Trump administration has previously said that China, much like Russia, is America's competitor. Teng pointed out banning Chinese students from studying in the US is not only aimed at Chinese students, but also a part of the US plan to restrain China's development.
In Teng's opinion, the policy will definitely have negative impacts on the US. Immigration has always been the driving force behind America's prosperity. Banning Chinese students from studying in the US will undermine the foundation of the US, which was built on immigrants arriving from all corners of the world.
"Without immigrants, we can't imagine what the United States would be like,” Teng told CGTN.
The Sterling Memorial Library at Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, US /VCG Photo
Today, China is facing a very serious challenge from the United States, especially in people-to-people exchanges. The United States might feel threatened by China, but Chinese students should not pay the price of the US politicians' paranoia. After all, all Chinese students studying in the US, with no exception, have undergone a series of evaluations by the US government, including security assessments. Thus, as Teng says, allegations of “Chinese spying students” are baseless.
Driving Chinese students out of the country is reminiscent of a similar policy carried out by the US government to cast off Americans of Japanese descent during World War II. At the time, hundreds of thousands of Japanese Americans were forced into internment camps after Japan's military strike on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
“History is a mirror for us to be cleverer. We should learn something from history,” Teng noted.
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