Observation Net, November 12th report, US President Trump defended the "Welcome Chinese Students" plan in a program, which caused strong shock among the MAGA group.

In the interview, Trump emphasized that the US higher education system cannot do without international students, and Chinese students have long been one of the most important parts of it.

He even bluntly said that if the number of students from China were cut in half, at least half of the universities in the United States would collapse as a result.

This immediately left the MAGA supporters speechless; the MAGA camp has recently insisted on restricting China and preventing Chinese students, saying that the country's educational resources should be reserved for Americans. How come they are now welcoming more Chinese students?

Right-wing media host directly questioned Trump's statement, trying to use old-fashioned arguments such as "intellectual property theft" to label Chinese students.

Facing the questioning, Trump asked the other party, "Do you think the French are better?" then proceeded to attack France.

Trump emphasized that he is the creator of MAGA and knows best what MAGA needs.

The whole interview formed a rare scene — Trump was speaking for Chinese students, while the MAGA grassroots were opposing Trump.

Trump

From the data, are American colleges really dependent on Chinese students?

According to the latest academic year data, there are approximately 277,000 Chinese students in American colleges, accounting for nearly a quarter of all international students. Although this is a decline from the peak of 370,000 in the 2019–2020 academic year, Chinese students remain one of the largest sources of international education in the United States.

Different from local students, international students generally pay higher tuition fees, and almost all expenses must be self-funded, with no state subsidies or federal funding, which means the tuition they pay is pure income for the university.

Many colleges have publicly admitted that if international students, especially those from China, decrease, it will directly cause budget deficits, leading to layoffs, cutting majors, campus project shutdowns, and even bankruptcy risks.

Over the past few years, more than 90 colleges in the United States have closed or merged due to insufficient enrollment and deteriorating finances. Some private colleges in the northeastern region have explicitly stated that they cannot survive without Chinese students.

American Universities

However, in sharp contrast to the dependence of American colleges on Chinese students, Chinese students in the United States face an increasingly politicized situation.

In recent years, from visas to employment, Chinese students have been caught up in the so-called "national security" discourse.

The US Department of Justice once led the "China Initiative," which was revoked, and the official acknowledged that many cases against Chinese students and scholars ultimately lacked evidence, but the negative consequences already caused have not disappeared. Various prejudices have increased, and the sentiment of considering Chinese students as "potential threats" has been continuously amplified in right-wing media.

It is said that some colleges have had to implicitly control the proportion of applications from China in certain disciplines due to concerns that having too many Chinese students on campus might attract attention from legislators.

Against this background, Trump's proposal to allow 600,000 Chinese students to come to the United States is itself full of political rhetoric.

MAGA

The debate between Trump and the MAGA members reveals the structural contradiction in the United States where anti-China sentiments coexist with reliance on China in the field of education.

The US university system, research system, laboratories, and Silicon Valley companies all depend on talent from China. The presence of Chinese students has always been an important component of American technological strength.

On the other hand, American politicians constantly reinforce the "China threat theory" for votes, viewing China's technological capabilities as competition, demanding restrictions on Chinese talents, strict visa reviews, and reduced academic cooperation.

Trump himself was once part of this group. His current justification is completely different from his performance a few months ago, which is the fundamental reason for the discomfort of MAGA.

But as Trump himself said, MAGA was created by him, and the interpretation rights are in his mouth.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7572060974686028339/

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