Trump’s Next Trade War Target: Chinese Students at Elite Schools
First trade, then technology -- now talent. The Trump administration has started taking aim at China’s best and brightest in the U.S., scrutinizing researchers with ties to Beijing and restricting student visas.
Several Chinese graduate students and academics told Bloomberg News in recent weeks that they found the U.S. academic and job environment increasingly unfriendly. Emory University
dismissed two Chinese-American professors on May 16, and China’s Education Ministry
issued a warning Monday on the risks of studying in the U.S. as student visa rejections soar.
Increasing Suspicion
The developments underscore how the trade conflict is fundamentally changing the relationship between to the world’s two largest economies, from one of greater reliance to increasing suspicion. President Donald Trump’s expanding
curbs on Chinese goods and China’s move to set up a
sweeping blacklist of “unreliable” foreign entities since their trade talks broke down have
helped fuel new Wall Street warnings about a possible global recession.
Education has for decades been a strong point of cooperation between the nations, with a surge of Chinese students filling American university coffers while giving the country access to some of the world’s best research hubs. The U.S. hosted more than 360,000 students from China last year, according to a
report by the
Institute of International Education, more than any other country.
Still, growth has slowed amid the trade tensions, with the number of students rising 3.6% last year -- or roughly half the pace of the previous year. The share of Chinese government-sponsored students refused visas increased to 13.5% in the first three months of this year, compared with 3.2% in the same period of 2018, according to new Chinese government data.
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