Harvard Chinese student's graduate speech draws praise and ire

BBC News

2 days ago

A Chinese Harvard graduate's speech calling for unity in a divided world, delivered days after the US vowed to "aggressively" revoke Chinese students' visas, has sparked mixed reactions in the US and her home country."We don't rise by proving each other wrong. We rise by refusing to let one another go," Jiang Yurong said on Thursday, the same day a US federal judge blocked the Trump administration's ban on foreign students at Harvard. Her speech went viral on the Chinese internet, with some saying it moved them to tears. However, others said her elite background is not representative of Chinese students.In the US, some have flagged her alleged links with the Chinese Communist Party.
In their efforts to restrict Harvard from enrolling foreign students, US authorities had accused the institution of "co-ordinating with the Chinese Communist Party". Ms Jiang, who studied international development, was the first Chinese woman to speak at a Harvard graduation ceremony.In her address, Ms Jiang emphasised the value of Harvard's international classrooms, noting how that taught her and her classmates to "dance through each other's traditions" and "carry the weight of each other's worlds". "If we still believe in a shared future, let us not forget: those we label as enemies - they, too, are human. In seeing their humanity, we find our own," said Ms Jiang, who spent her final two years of school at Cardiff Sixth Form College in Wales before going to Duke University in the US for her undergraduate degree. A conservative X account, with the handle @amuse, criticised Harvard for choosing a graduation speaker who is "a representative of a CCP-funded and monitored non-government organisation", alleging that her father works for a non-government organisation that "serves as a quasi-diplomatic agent for the [party]". The account, which has 639,000 followers, has previously posted pro-Donald Trump content, such as the US leader fighting Darth Vader and sexualised imagery of former Vice-President Kamala Harris.Some Chinese social media users, on the other hand, allege that the organisation Ms Jiang's father works for is backed by prominent American companies and foundations.The BBC has not independently verified these allegations. "This is why she could get a scholarship to go to the UK for high school, and later also to Harvard," wrote a user on China's X-like platform, Weibo. Others called for her to stay on in the US, with comments that reeked with sarcasm. "Such talent should be left to the United States," one wrote. "I hope she will continue to glow abroad and stay away from us!" read another.But Ms Jiang's vision of a "shared humanity" also struck a chord."That she is able to stand on an international stage and speak the heart of Chinese students has moved me to tears," wrote a user on Red Note, another Chinese social media platform.Another user defended Jiang by hitting back at those who criticised her: "You may not have changed them, but they've heard you... As more and more people speak out like you, you will eventually move and change others."There are around 6,800 international students at Harvard, who make up more than 27% of its enrolments in the past academic year. About a third of these foreign students are from China, and more than 700 are Indian.