A 2023-2024 study determined that almost a quarter of all international students – 270,000 – come from China.
U.S. House rep Nathanial Moran (R-Texas), who serves on the select committee for the CCP, talked with Tony Perkins of Washington Watch about the national security concern.
Alarming to those who see it, the CCP-student connection isn’t a front burner issue for many people because China has made subtle moves, Moran said.
“They are just infiltrating our communities through quiet means, including through our educational institutions, and having students come over here on visas and study here and then engage in espionage,” Moran explains.
Harvard is one of the educational institutions on the Trump Administrations radar for anti-America sentiment. The Trump vs. Havard debate came about after Trump said Harvard can no longer enroll foreign students.
Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem recently accused Harvard University of “fostering violence, antisemitism, and coordinating with the CCP on its campus.”
Moran says educational institutions in general are favoring foreign bodies that express anti-American sentiment.
“When you hear the rhetoric that's coming out of some of these longstanding research institutions in the United States, the rhetoric seems overtly anti-American. They are cozying up to countries in this world that are not our allies, that do not have the same strategic interests as us.”
After a federal judge temporarily stopped the Trump administration from revoking Harvard’s right to enroll foreign students, Trump has stated that Harvard should cap their enrollment of foreign students at 15% and not 31%.
Currently, international students comprise 27.2% of Harvard’s student body.
Getting to know you better
Furthermore, Trump wants to know more about the international students who attend Harvard.
"Harvard has to show us their lists. I want to make sure that the foreign students are people that can love our country,” Trump said.
Moran explains that this increase in foreign mentality and sentiment in higher universities is the result of institutions becoming reliant and dependent on money and students that come from China. That money funds research, buildings, and other projects.
“They like the dollars, and they're willing to then grant access to student data to all kinds of things that are going on that China doesn't have any business knowing, including the research results.”
The danger of these students having access to this research information directly relates to national security.
“It's a very significant threat because we're talking about some of our top research institutions in the country, many of whom are engaged in research that impacts national security matters,” says Moran.
The threat, however, has not been noticed until recently because of noticeable advances in Chinese technology.
“We're seeing the results of it because now technology in China is advancing as quickly or more quickly in a lot of areas than here in the United States. And it's because they're using our educational institutions to do a lot of it,” Moran states.
During Trump’s first administration, it was discovered through 19 different Department of Education investigations that universities are underreporting the amount of money flowing in from foreign countries. This money is coming different adversaries, not just from China, but Russia and Middle Eastern countries as well.
Moran said statutes requiring reports from universities did not have consequences for schools who failed to comply.
“If they didn't report them, and many of them did not report these contracts or the money that they got from foreign entities of concern, then what was happening was they would apologize, and they would continue to either under-report or not report at all,” Moran says.
Moran to schools: Face the music
Moran says there needs to be more transparency and accountability from these educational institutions -- or consequences.
“There needs to be some accountability to say, ‘look, if you're not transparent about the money you're getting from any foreign entity, then we're going to stop the flow of any federal money to your college or your university, or there's going to be additional civil or criminal penalties.’”
Trump has already set an example by cutting billions of federal grant money to Harvard. Instead, $3 billion will be given to trade schools across the country.
Moran says, “Unless there's an enforcement mechanism, there will not be compliance by these universities that don't want to do it.”
