Is the Era of Student Visas Over? No Problem — Says Beijing.

China has its own reasons for wanting its top students to stay home.

So, how upset is Beijing over President Donald Trump’s decision to cancel student visas for Chinese nationals? Not as much as you might think. Publicly, Chinese officials may complain that it’s just another attempt to block China’s rise. But in reality, China may actually welcome the idea of keeping its brightest students within its borders.

Late last month, the U.S. State Department announced it would “strictly cancel student visas for Chinese nationals, especially those connected to the Communist Party or studying in sensitive fields,” and that it would “increase scrutiny” of future applications. A spokesperson stated that the goal of the new visa policy is to stop China from exploiting U.S. universities and stealing intellectual property.

Naturally, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson quickly voiced disapproval of the policy. But when Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Trump by phone the following week, he either didn’t bring it up at all, or the Chinese Foreign Ministry didn’t find his remarks noteworthy enough to include in the official summary — suggesting the issue isn’t a priority for Beijing.

Beijing’s Silence Might Be Strategic

One possible reason for this lukewarm response is that bringing Chinese students home aligns with Beijing’s current agenda. Since China first opened up to the world in the 1980s, sending students abroad has helped the country acquire the skills and technologies needed to climb out of poverty. As Robin Lewis, a China-U.S. education advisor and former associate dean at Columbia University, put it:

“China used to send people abroad to learn from others, find the best quality education, and bring that knowledge back home.”

But that era is fading. China is now entering a phase of nationalism and self-reliance — one that favors local companies, products, technology, and even universities.

President Xi has long emphasized the importance of education in sustaining China’s rise. His government has poured massive investments into the country’s education system, particularly science and technology programs — and with some success. Prestigious Chinese universities like Tsinghua in Beijing have gained global recognition for research excellence.

China Wants Its Own Harvard

Instead of sending elite students to the U.S., China wants to build its own “Harvards” — for political, cultural, and economic reasons. Chinese authorities have always been uneasy about hundreds of thousands of students soaking up “undesirable” ideas about democracy and civil liberties while in America. They’re also worried students will gain access to censored information — like the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.

Many Chinese students who study in the U.S. end up enjoying the freedoms and lifestyle, and choose to stay — rather than return to serve the homeland. Beijing has tried to deal with this in part by monitoring its students abroad and pressuring their families back home to keep them loyal to party lines.

It’s Easier to Control Students at Home

Inside China, it’s far easier for the government to keep students inside the state-controlled media bubble — one that has grown even tighter in recent years. Local media constantly depict the U.S. as unsafe, especially for Asians, highlighting racial discrimination, violence, and chaos.

A report by state-run Xinhua news agency last year — titled “Chinese Students’ Dreams Turn to Nightmares at America’s Doorstep” — told the story of a student who was detained and deported at a U.S. airport. It claimed others suffered the same fate. Meanwhile, China’s Ministry of State Security — the country’s top intelligence agency — warned Chinese students studying abroad about being recruited as foreign agents and even gave an example of a student who was caught and punished.

Numbers Are Already Dropping

Even before Trump’s policy was announced, growing distrust had already led to a drop in Chinese students enrolling in U.S. universities. The number peaked during the 2019–2020 academic year at over 372,000, according to the Institute of International Education. But by 2023–2024, it had dropped by a quarter — to 277,000. India has now surpassed China, with more than 331,000 Indian students enrolled in U.S. institutions.

Is the U.S. Just Helping China?

The Trump administration seems to believe that restricting China’s access to U.S. technology, capital, and now education gives America an edge. In some areas, that might be true — for instance, blocking exports of advanced U.S. semiconductor technology appears to have slowed China’s chip industry. So why not do the same with education?

The argument is that by keeping Chinese students away from top-tier research institutions, China’s ability to advance in science and tech will be limited.

But the Real-World Impact Is Unclear

In reality, measuring the effect of this policy is tricky. For example, engineers at DeepSeek — a Chinese AI company that stunned Silicon Valley with its low-cost ChatGPT rival — were mostly trained in China. And Chinese students can always look for quality education in other countries. Harvard may be elite, but Chinese students are increasingly welcomed — and sometimes better treated — in places like Japan and Hong Kong. Universities in these regions are actively recruiting international students who feel unwelcome in America.

Trying to Limit Chinese Ambition May Be Futile

The idea that any U.S. policy could truly stall China’s ambitions might be wishful thinking. As James McGregor, head of China operations at APCO Worldwide, put it:

“People here wake up every morning knowing education is everything. There’s nothing more important than that.”
“Will you stop Chinese students from learning the world’s best skills? No — they’ll just learn them somewhere else.”

A Confused U.S. Strategy?

For now, the Trump administration seems unsure whether it wants to confront China or negotiate with it — and the new student visa policy reflects that confusion. After speaking with Xi, Trump told reporters:

“Chinese students are coming. No problem. Honestly, it’s an honor to have them.”

Sure, many Chinese families still dream of sending their children to U.S. universities. But Beijing seems more focused than Washington on the long game. President Xi views the U.S. as the biggest obstacle to China’s rise — and a risky dependency. From that perspective, relying on Harvard to train the nation’s brightest students is a national security threat.

So ironically, Trump may be doing Xi a favor.