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The US should keep its universities open to Chinese students and organisations – education is the best weapon in promoting democracy

  • America’s founders, like Confucius before them, saw education’s anti-authoritarian benefits. Banning Chinese students would end a potent US edge in its ideological rivalry

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The number of Chinese students at US universities who remain in America after graduation has plummeted since 2013. Photo: Xinhua

Despite over 100 years of historic connections with China, and a near 10-year relationship with the Confucius Institute, the University of Minnesota has now suspended ties with China and Huawei. Concerned about national security and the US-China trade war, the Trump administration has given American educational institutions a choice: the Chinese organisations or US government funding.

All but six states have at least one Confucius Institute at a university. Of the more than 1 million foreign students attending US universities, 360,000 are Chinese. These students are now seen as national security threats.

White House adviser Stephen Miller proposed a ban on student visas for all Chinese nationals, but US ambassador to China Terry Branstad convinced President Donald Trump to reject the proposal. Branstad argued that a ban would not only damage American higher educational institutions but also cause diplomatic fallout.

More importantly, trade in knowledge and information enterprises is global. This is the case with Trump’s allies and friends – like Israel and Saudi Arabia – whose hi-tech trade relations with China continue despite Washington’s requests.

When it comes to Confucius Institutes, White House policy formulations are ill-advised and counterproductive. The institutes operate under the Chinese Ministry of Education but the American host institutions have oversight.

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