(Image source from: Foxnews.com)
US President Donald Trump has welcomed six hundred thousand Chinese students to American universities, even though his government is still tough on international students. The President highlighted the significance of the relationship between the United States and China, marking a noticeable change from his earlier "America first" strategy. Previously, his administration had promised to actively cancel visas for Chinese students, particularly those connected to the Chinese Communist Party or studying vital subjects. “We will permit their students to enter. This matters a lot, six hundred thousand students. This is very crucial. But we will maintain a good relationship with China,” Trump informed journalists in the Oval Office. Nevertheless, he cautioned China to provide the US access to rare earth magnets, or they would face a two-hundred percent tariff. Yet, he reassured that the trade disputes between the two biggest economies would not impact Chinese students, allowing them to continue their studies in the United States.
Trump's tariffs have posed a risk to US-China relations over the last year, with Washington increasing taxes on Chinese goods to as much as one hundred forty-five percent in April. However, later on, the two nations reached a temporary agreement on trade. Despite Trump’s aggressive tariffs creating instability in the global market earlier this month, the countries decided on August 12 to extend their trade pause for an additional ninety days, providing negotiators with more time to reach an agreement. Trump's comments drew criticism from some of his strongest supporters of the MAGA (Make America Great Again) movement, who viewed his decision as a betrayal of the America First policy. MAGA supporter Laura Loomer criticized Trump's choice, calling Chinese students “CCP spies.”
She posted on X, “I didn’t vote to bring in more Muslims and Chinese people to my country. Sorry, but these immigrants from communist nations and places where child abuse is tolerated don’t help make America great. Please don’t turn America into China. MAGA does not want more immigrants.” In another message, she questioned, “When has any Chinese person or Muslim contributed to making America great?” Loomer also remarked, “Now that we are welcoming six hundred thousand CCP spies, what’s the purpose for American students studying STEM?” Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, another Trump backer, also disagreed with Trump's decision, stating, “We should not allow six hundred thousand Chinese students, who may be aligned with the CCP, into American colleges and universities.”
"If refusing to let these students from China come to our schools leads to a 15% failure rate among them, then these schools should fail anyway because they are being supported by the Chinese Communist Party. Why are we letting 600,000 students from China take opportunities away from our American students?" she posted on X. When pressed about President Trump's significant push regarding China, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick stood by the President's actions. In an interview with Fox News, he remarked that without these students from China, "the bottom 15 percent of universities in America would close down. President Trump is looking at this from a sensible economic standpoint." President Trump's recent statement clearly contrasts with the visa policy his administration outlined in May, which aimed to prioritize American interests. "Under President Trump’s guidance, the US State Department will collaborate with the Department of Homeland Security to vigorously cancel visas for Chinese students, especially those linked to the Chinese Communist Party or those studying in essential fields. We will also change the visa requirements to ensure stricter checks on all new visa requests from the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong," Secretary of State Marco Rubio had stated at that time.
