Latest news with #YurongJiang
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- General
- Daily Mail
Harvard grad preaching global unity completely oblivious as brawl break out right behind her
A Chinese Harvard graduate was blissfully unaware that an all-out brawl was breaking out right behind her as she preached unity amid 'difficult times.' Yurong 'Luanna' Jiang was discussing her now-viral commencement speech outside of a café in Cambridge, Massachusetts as two men behind her started throwing punches. 'The message itself is - if I had to put it into one sentence, it would be "Humanity rises and falls as one,"' Jiang told the Associated Press of her speech as a man wearing a black backpack could be seen apparently punching someone off camera. Soon, he and another man could be seen falling over chairs, at which point a white-haired man in a black shirt climbs atop the man with the backpack. Still, Jiang continued to speak about peace. 'I think we are living in very difficult times,' she said. 'There's a lot of division in terms of ideas, ethnicities, identities,' the college grad continues as the man in the black shirt yells in the man with the backpack's face. At that point, a third man could be seen coming into view apparently trying to break the two men up, while Jiang suggests 'we can use a little bit more moral imagination and imagine ourselves being connected with one another.' Behind her the man in the black shirt could be seen still holding onto the other man as he stands up. 'There's a lot that's going on outside of Harvard,' Jiang then acknowledges, still seemingly unaware of the chaos behind her. 'There's conflict, there's geopolitical competition, there's a lot of things going on outside Harvard, but also [at] Harvard,' she continued. 'You know, the school has some disagreement with - in terms of whether the school should, you know, promote the presence of international students,' Jiang said of President Donald Trump's plan to block foreign students from obtaining a visa. Meanwhile, behind her the man with the backpack could be seen grabbing the other man's shirt, but the man in the black shirt is able to get free and walks away - apparently telling the man with the backpack to stay down in the process. That man then also stands up and appears to be animated about what had just happened, as Jiang finishes up her thoughts. It remains unclear what the men may have been fighting about. 'I think, well, it's particularly important because there's a lot going on outside Harvard - the conflict, the geopolitical tensions,' Jiang said of her commencement speech. 'And especially important in Harvard because students can be very emotionally charged, because they deeply care about a lot of issues. 'And when you are emotionally charged and activated, it is very easy to demonize another person.' Jiang made similar points in her commencement speech, which came the same day that a federal judge blocked the Trump administration's ban on foreign students. She had argued to the Harvard community that 'humanity rises and falls as one,' as she shared how she was told as a young child that her generation would bridge international divides. 'That promise of a connected world, it's giving way to division, fear and conflict,' Jiang said. 'We're starting to believe those who think differently, vote differently, or pray differently whether they are across the ocean or sitting right next to us are not just wrong. We mistakenly see them as evil,' she argued. 'But it doesn't have to be this way,' Jiang continued, saying that she learned from her time at Harvard that it is important to 'sit with discomfort, listen deeply and stay soft in hard times. 'Because if we still believe in a shared future, let us not forget those who were labeled as enemies - they, too, are human. In seeing their humanity, we find our own. 'In the end, we do not rise by proving another wrong. We rise by refusing to let one another go,' Jiang concluded. Her message of unity was widely shared online - though some in the United States claimed Jiang has ties to the Chinese Communist Party. They have said Jiang's father works for a non-government organization that serves the party, though some Chinese social media users claimed the organization her father works for is backed by prominent American companies and foundations. could not independently verify either claim. Still, the founder and CEO of Republicans Overseas, a political organization for Americans abroad, even called on Secretary of State Marco Rubio to cancel Jiang's visa for her speech. '@MarcoRubio, this Chinese student Yurong "Luanna" Jiang is using her commencement address at Harvard to propagandize #XiJinping's "a community with a shared future for mankind,"' Solomon Yue Jr, who was born in China and immigrated to the US, posted on X. 'This #CCP infiltrator's visa should be canceled. Her internship in America must be terminated.' His comment came just days after Rubio announced that the Trump administration will 'aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.' Harvard has nearly 6,800 international students, who made up more than 27 percent of its enrollment in the past academic year, according to the BBC. About one-third of those international students are from China, and President Trump has accused the Ivy League school of 'coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party.' He also said that Harvard should reduce its international enrollment to just about 15 percent, the Washington Examiner reports. Yet Harvard officials have remained defiant, with University President Alan Garber smugly taunting the president in his own commencement speech as he congratulated students from 'around the world' graduating from the prestigious university.
The Independent
9 hours ago
- General
- The Independent
Fight breaks out behind Harvard student as she issues plea for global unity
A brawl broke out between two men while a Chinese Harvard student spoke about global unity in an interview on Friday (30 May). Yurong 'Luanna' Jiang was speaking to the Associated Press about the importance of being compassionate when a fight broke out in the background. The two men can be seen falling to the ground in a tumble at an open-air restaurant, with a third man later piling on. Jiang, the first Chinese woman chosen as Harvard's student speaker, continued the interview unaware of the brawl. 'The message itself, if I have to put it into one sentence, will be that humanity rises and falls as one', she ironically said.
South China Morning Post
2 days ago
- General
- South China Morning Post
Harvard Chinese student's graduation speech strikes a chord as Trump leads crackdown
A Chinese student's graduation speech at Harvard University emphasising 'shared humanity' and calling for global unity has gone viral, days after the Trump administration pledged to ' aggressively ' revoke the visas of students from China. Advertisement Yurong 'Luanna' Jiang is the first Chinese woman selected to be the student speaker at a Harvard graduation ceremony. Her emotional speech on Thursday was delivered on the same day that a federal judge blocked a Department of Homeland Security order seeking to prevent the Ivy League university from enrolling international students. US President Donald Trump's showdown with Harvard – which the White House accuses of maintaining ties with the Chinese Communist Party – unfolds against the backdrop of deepening US-China tensions The US State Department announced last week that it would intensify screening and 'aggressively' revoke student visas for Chinese nationals, including 'those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields'. Advertisement The move is widely believed to stem from Washington's long-standing concerns that Chinese students enrolled in advanced science and engineering programmes could be involved in espionage activities that bolster Beijing's military capabilities, posing a significant national security threat.
Arab News
3 days ago
- General
- Arab News
Chinese student struck a chord emphasizing humanity during Harvard commencement speech
CAMBRIDGE, Massachusetts: A day after her emotional speech at Harvard University's commencement, Yurong 'Luanna' Jiang kept running into classmates who praised her message that people should see everyone's common humanity rather than demonize others for their differences. 'We're starting to believe those who think differently, vote differently or pray differently — whether they're across the ocean or sitting right next to us — are not just wrong. We mistakenly see them as evil. But it doesn't have to be this way,' she said in her address, which drew wide applause. 'The message itself, if I have to put it into one sentence, will be humanity rises and falls as one,' Jiang told The Associated Press on Friday. 'We are living in a very difficult time. There's a lot of divisions in terms of ideas, ethnicities, identities. This is a time where we can use a little bit more moral imagination and imagine ourselves being connected with one another.' The 25-year-old Jiang's speech never directly mentioned the Trump administration nor its multi-pronged attack on the nation's oldest and richest university. But she said the turmoil beyond their campus and its impact on her classmates was on her mind as she delivered her speech. 'Students can be very emotionally charged because they care deeply about a lot of issues,' said Jiang, who comes from China and graduated with a masters degree in public administration in international development. 'When you are emotionally charged and activated, it's very easy to demonize another person.' She said the relentless attacks from the Trump administration on the school's funding and threats to detain and deport people studying in the US on student visas have left her unsettled, adding huge uncertainty to her future plans. 'In terms of the plan going forward, I would say everything is up in the air at this point,' Jiang said, who had hoped to remain in the United States for a few years but now is open to working in international development overseas. 'At this point, it's difficult to say what will happen.' This week, the Trump administration asked federal agencies to cancel about $100 million in contracts with the university. The government already canceled more than $2.6 billion in federal research grants, moved to cut off Harvard's enrollment of international students and threatened its tax-exempt status. Then it widened the pressure campaign, suspending visa applications worldwide and threatening to deny US visas to thousands of Chinese students nationwide. These actions resonate with Jiang and her classmates — about 30 percent of Harvard's students are international, and China has among the highest numbers. 'The anxiety is real,' said Jiang, who knows two international students from China who are weighing whether to travel for work in Kenya and Rwanda. 'Because of the uncertainty of their visas, they are facing a very tricky situation,' she said. 'They can either go abroad, go to Kenya and Rwanda to do their internship and work on poverty alleviation and public health but risking not being able to make it back to campus safely. Or they can stay on campus and do their internships remote.' 'It's pretty heartbreaking,' she continued'They wanted to help humanity and, to see them entangled in politics they didn't choose, is hard.' Jiang, who went to high school in the United Kingdom and earned her undergraduate degree at Duke University, said there should be more, not fewer, academic exchanges between China and the United States. 'Humanity is facing a lot of crisis,' she said. 'There are conflicts. There is climate. There are a lot things that not only one country can tackle. China and the US are the two most powerful economies or countries in the world. They have to work with each other to be able to combat the problems or the issues that affect every single human being.' Jiang also defended the importance of international students at Harvard, recalling how 60 percent of the students stood up at the Kennedy School of Government commencement when the dean, Jeremy Weinstein, asked how many came from outside the United States. Then he asked if they had learned something from their international classmates, and most everyone stood. 'A lot of us clapped and cheered. A lot of us were in tears,' she said, as Weinstein told them to 'look around, this is your school.' Without international students, it would be a challenge for Harvard to achieve its mission, Jiang said. Campus culture depends on its globally diverse student body, studying and hanging out together. 'Harvard wants its students to go and change the world and you can't change the world without understanding the world,' she said. 'You can't understand the world without truly having a personal connection with people from all sorts of countries.'
Washington Post
3 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
Chinese student struck a chord emphasizing humanity during Harvard commencement speech
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — A day after her emotional speech at Harvard University's commencement, Yurong 'Luanna' Jiang kept running into classmates who praised her message that people should see everyone's common humanity rather than demonize others for their differences. 'We're starting to believe those who think differently, vote differently or pray differently — whether they're across the ocean or sitting right next to us — are not just wrong. We mistakenly see them as evil. But it doesn't have to be this way,' she said in her address, which drew wide applause.
