This article originally appeared in The Hill on August 31st, 2025.
President Trump’s recent remarks tying U.S.-China trade talks to the admission of 600,000 Chinese students have caused uproar among his restrictionist base. But there are reasons to treat this claim with skepticism.
First, there are currently only about 277,000 Chinese students in the U.S. Admitting 600,000 would represent a twofold increase at a time when Chinese enrollment is trending downwards.
Second, while it is clear that China does not want to be cut off from U.S. higher education entirely, it has also begun to implement policies that incentivize its citizens to pursue degrees at home. Some provinces in China are beginning to exclude holders of foreign degrees from government jobs altogether. And China’s demographic woes will only accelerate the government’s need for young Chinese people to stay at home lest they potentially put down roots elsewhere.
Many of the objections to the admission of large numbers of Chinese students have to do with the potential national security risks of having large numbers of students from a foreign adversary inside the U.S., where they might be able to commit acts of espionage or even sabotage.
It is true that Chinese students carry potential risks, and the U.S. should not turn a blind eye to these possibilities out of well-meaning but misguided attempts to avoid seeming prejudiced. Chinese students in the U.S. have been credibly charged with engaging in espionage. Others have actively intimidated their peers here and reported back on their activities to the Chinese Communist Party.
