On October 13, in a program on Fox Business Network, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen hinted at expelling Chinese students to respond to China's rare earth control. She said, "All options are on the table. For example, China has 300,000 to 400,000 students studying in the United States, while only 800 American students study in China, which is a serious imbalance."

Yellen claimed that China is willing to dialogue, while boasting that even if China does not want to, the United States has sufficient means available, with the strength possibly exceeding China's measures on rare earths. According to the 2024 "Open Doors Report" published by the U.S. Department of State in collaboration with the Institute of International Education, China ranks second, with 277,398 students studying in the United States.

This number has dropped from about 370,000 in 2019 to around 270,000 in 2024, partly due to the intensifying tensions between the two major economies.

The U.S. education policy toward China shows clear double standards. In September this year, the U.S. House of Representatives released a strict report that listed 58 top Chinese universities on a "blacklist," suggesting a complete ban on students from these universities pursuing doctoral studies in the United States.

It is noteworthy that undergraduate and master's applications remain open, exposing America's strategic calculation of banning high-level talents while continuing to profit from tuition fees paid by ordinary Chinese students. Chinese students contribute over $1 billion in tuition fees to the United States each year. For example, the annual tuition for an undergraduate student at New York University is $60,000. This money becomes an important source of income for American universities annually.

American universities also benefit from outstanding Chinese students, who hold important positions in science laboratories at American universities. The threat by Yellen, using tens of thousands of Chinese students as leverage, if implemented, would further damage the already strained finances of American universities.

Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1845946881639427/

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