Students as spies? US-China educational ties strained by rising claims of espionage
Chinese spies at Stanford University. American and Chinese pawns for Beijing at Duke Kunshan. Chinese student scouts near a military site in Michigan.
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These are some of the 'bombshell' allegations that have been fuelling online buzz and US government efforts to sever educational ties between the US and China in recent months.
A day after The Stanford Review – a student-run conservative newspaper – published a report on May 7 alleging that Beijing was conducting a 'widespread intelligence-gathering campaign' on campus, Senator Ashley Moody, Republican of Florida, cited the piece as evidence that Congress must
pass her bill to prevent all Chinese citizens from obtaining US student visas.
Similarly, months after a Duke University student published an account of her experiences with Chinese media during a trip to China, two US representatives
wrote to Duke's president seeking to shut down Duke Kunshan, the university's joint campus with Wuhan University in China, alleging that it was helping to facilitate Chinese propaganda and intellectual property theft.
And, months after claims that Chinese students were spying near a military site in Michigan, the University of Michigan – facing pressure from lawmakers –
announced it would end its partnership with Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
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Capping this trend, the State Department announced last week it would
'aggressively' revoke visas of Chinese students, including those with 'connections' to China's Communist Party and in 'critical fields', citing Beijing's 'intelligence collection' and theft of US research.
Lawmakers and government officials involved say that US engagement with Chinese students and universities must be restricted to protect national security.
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