‘Nefarious system’: Republican gives strict warnings to American universities against Chinese scholarship programs; Call IT security threats

The House Republican has asked seven American universities to cut relations with a Chinese scholarship program that MPs have quoted as “nefarious system” aimed at stealing technology for the Chinese government.MPs sent letters to Dartmouth College, Notre Dame University and five other schools on Tuesday, warned them about their partnership with the China Scholarship Council (CSC). The CSC is a study and abroad program funded by the Chinese government that pays for hundreds of Chinese graduate students to study in American universities every year. After graduation, these students need to return to China for two years.On the Chinese Communist Party, the Chairman of the House Selection Committee Republican representative John Mulenar called the program a threat to American national security. He wrote that CSC claims an academic partnership but it actually uses American universities to support China’s military and scientific development.Some universities say they are already leaving the program. Dartmouth said that in the last 10 years there are less than 10 students in the program and have already decided to abolish it. Notre Dame said that it started ending its participation earlier this year. The University of Tennessee confirmed that it received a letter and reviewing it.The House Committee is now reviewing how the program operates in American universities. MPs have demanded all seven institutions for documents related to the program.According to letters, these participation has brought 15 Chinese graduate students in Dartmouth and about 40 notre dames in a year.The House Republican, including US President Donald Trump, is closely paying attention to Chinese students in the US. In May, State Secretary Marco Rubio said the US would cancel the visa for some Chinese students studying in an important field. During his first term, Trump banned the visa for students associated with China’s “military-citizen” strategy.Many American universities agree on the need to protect research, but all Chinese scholars warns against treating with suspicion. They note that only a small number has been included in espionage.China is the second largest source of foreign students in the US after India. In the 2023–24 academic year, more than 270,000 Chinese students studied in the US, leading to a quarter of all international students. Most pay in their own way, and many live in America, while others return to China after graduation.Representative Molenaar has focused on cutting relations between us and Chinese universities. In May, he pressurized the Duke University that he asked to end a partnership, said that federly funded research was allowed. In June, Eastern Michigan University ended the relationship with two Chinese universities following pressure from the committee.Last year, the House Republican released a report claiming that hundreds of million dollars in research funding of the US government helped to carry out China in artificial intelligence, semiconductors and nuclear weapons. The report asked China’s educational partnership “Trojan Horse” to steal technology and said that China is taking advantage of educational cooperation in a secret and harmful manner.