A letter sent to the universities, including Stanford and Carnegie Mellon, alleged that the Chinese government was embedding researchers in top American institutions to gain direct access to sensitive technologies.
In response, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Chinese students account for about one-quarter of all international students in the US and that their activities have promoted “the economic prosperity and technological development of the US.”
“This is in the interest of both parties,” Mao told reporters at a daily briefing. “We urge the US 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.”
Her remarks came a day after John Moolenaar, chairman of the House Select Committee on the Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party, sent a letter to six colleges requesting information on Chinese students enrolled in advanced science and technology programs.
The colleges named in Moolenaar’s letter were Carnegie Mellon University, Purdue University, Stanford University, the University of Illinois, the University of Maryland, and the University of Southern California.
He described America’s student visa system as a Trojan horse for Beijing, providing unrestricted access to the country’s top research institutions and posing a direct threat to national security.
The letter requested information including the Chinese students’ sources of funding, the types of research they’re involved in, what schools they previously attended, and “a country-by-country breakdown of applicants, admittances, and enrolments at your university.”
Last week, a Republican lawmaker introduced a bill seeking to ban Chinese students from studying in US schools. (AP)
