U.S. proposals will vilify Chinese students

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Editor's note: Tom Fowdy is a UK-based political analyst. The article reflects the author's views, and not necessarily those of CGTN.

As part of its growing push against China, the Trump administration is reportedly considering forcing Chinese students who wish to study in the United States to undergo vetting and background checks, citing fears of “espionage”.

According to a report by Reuters from congressional sources, the checks may involve an examination of a student's phone records, scrutiny of political links and search of personal accounts on social media to determine “political views”.

Children in traditional clothing perform a dance with flags during the Chinese New Years celebration at the St. Louis Language Immersion School in St. Louis, February 15, 2018. /VCG Photo

Such proposals are deeply concerning. They will stand to promote a culture of McCarthyism at American Universities whereby every Chinese student becomes a potential suspect. By exaggerating the influence of China's government among students, it stands to initiate a widespread vilification of Chinese people within American society.

This, in turn, will cost U.S. academic institutions billions in the long run if the enthusiasm of Chinese to study at such universities diminishes accordingly, or the door is closed.

Despite the fearmongering of American politicians over “Chinese influence”, Beijing offers overwhelming benefits to the American educational system. Let's look at the numbers. According to Statista, in 2016/2017 over 350,000 Chinese students were studying at American institutions, a number which has grown year upon year.

This constitutes up to 30 percent of the total of international students at American universities, which constitutes the largest cohort with India second at 19 percent.

According to a study cited in QZ, the monetary contribution of each international student in the United States contributed up to seven jobs on average. According to Forbes, Chinese students are consequentially worth 11 billion U.S. dollars to the U.S. economy as a whole.

Yet despite these benefits, the Trump administration wants to openly vilify Chinese students as a security risk. The claims follow a common theme, the exaggerated and politically motivated accusation that everything is linked to espionage.

Intentional or not, every student is now being framed as a potential spy, seeking to infiltrate U.S. politics and steal American intellectual property and technology. But of course, the latter accusation gives us a clue as to the real reason this is happening. It is very much a part of Trump's attempt to economically constrain China.

Fourth-grade teacher Nannan Huang leads her class in traditional Chinese songs during a Chinese New Year celebration put on by the St. Louis Language Immersion School in St. Louis, February 15, 2018. /VCG Photo‍

The administration clearly believes by slashing access to American academic institutions and cutting off anyone who has politically “suspect” views, he can curtail China's technological advances and global market success in the long run.

But the merits cannot supersede the casualties, the collateral damage of such an idea would be catastrophic. Not only will American universities suffer from an inevitable fall in students and applications, but such screening serves to deprive Chinese students of having a point of view outside of the American narrative.

A longstanding U.S. assumption towards people of non-liberal political systems is that any point of view expressed is illegitimate save they oppose their own government and support liberal democracy, for this is the “natural truth”.

Anything that promotes an objective perspective of China and its own interests, is thus “Communist Propaganda” and must always be a sinister design of the state placed in the category of “foreign infiltration”.

Thus, the idea that such a system can be implemented and not wrongly indict people is narrow at best. Chinese students will consequentially end up vilified for even expressing a point of view.

Ultimately, whilst the United States and China differ in many areas, it is not, nor should it ever be students who should take the fallout from it. Perpetuating nonsense that Chinese students are little more than political agents is rudely dismissive of the fact that so many of them dream of being able to study at American institutions.

That fact in and of itself is a reminder that Chinese people do not see America as an enemy or something to be avoided or scorned, it is a huge unspoken praise to what Washington can offer. Yet, we are seeing this country cut its own nose off to spite its face in a mass hysteria with unhealthy parallels to the 1950s and nobody, not even most China analysts, are willing to objectively stand up to it.

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at opinions@cgtn.com.)