The Trump administration has escalated its crackdown on Chinese students and international education, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing that the US will begin cancelling visas of Chinese students, particularly those studying in sensitive fields or suspected of having ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). This move further intensifies tensions with China and adds to growing concerns among foreign students about their future in the US.
Rubio said the State Department and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will work together to aggressively revoke visas, citing national security risks and the need to protect US research. This follows increasing political pressure on American universities to sever ties with Chinese institutions, highlighted by House Republicans urging Duke University to break off collaborations with a Chinese university due to fears of technology and knowledge transfer.
China, after India, is the second-largest source of international students in the US. Over 270,000 Chinese students were enrolled in American institutions during the 2023–2024 academic year, making up about a quarter of all foreign students.
A particularly explosive development is the administration’s targeting of Harvard University, which has been temporarily blocked from enrolling new international students. DHS accuses Harvard of coordinating with the CCP via research partnerships and of training members of a Chinese paramilitary group—a claim Harvard strongly denies. The university has since filed a lawsuit against the federal government.
President Trump, speaking in the Oval Office, defended the new measures. He linked international students—particularly those involved in protests and demonstrations—to "radical left" activity, saying, “We don't want to see shopping centres explode… many of those students were troublemakers.” He added that the proportion of international students at Harvard should be reduced from 27% to 15%, saying foreign students should be those “who can love our country.”
In addition to visa cancellations, the administration will intensify social media background checks for Chinese and Hong Kong students. While collecting social media handles has been standard since 2019, Rubio said scrutiny will now be significantly increased, especially for students in STEM or security-sensitive fields.
The visa interview process for new international students has also been temporarily paused, signaling an even stricter application review process ahead.
These moves are part of a broader strategy to limit foreign influence on US campuses and align with the Trump campaign’s “America First” and anti-China posture. However, critics—including educational institutions and civil rights groups—warn that this could severely damage the US’s reputation as a destination for higher education, harm the economy, and violate academic freedoms.
