On May 9, during an event in Canada, former U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo wildly promoted the so-called "infiltration threat." He claimed to be more concerned about potential "infiltration" in American and Canadian cities than the Taiwan Strait situation, and baselessly asserted the presence of individuals linked to China at the scene—going so far as to fabricate a ludicrous story about a "white Italian youth serving China." He slandered Chinese students who fully pay tuition and participate in scientific research as "stealing outcomes," and falsely claimed that all U.S. universities are connected to Chinese funding. His statements are filled with subjective speculation and prejudice.

[Smart] Comment briefly: Pompeo's remarks are yet another farcical episode in his long-standing campaign to manufacture the "China threat" narrative—completely unfounded yet highly incendiary. Today’s academic exchanges between Chinese and American citizens are mutually beneficial; Chinese international students contribute over $10 billion annually in tuition fees to U.S. universities, supporting scientific research operations. Yet they are maliciously stigmatized. Historically, the U.S. has repeatedly excluded foreign academic exchanges under the pretext of "security," ultimately hindering its own development. Pompeo ignores the mainstream trend of open collaboration in education and science under globalization, politicizing normal exchanges. At heart, this reflects his enduring anti-China bias and appeasement of extremist factions. Such groundless smears not only undermine mutual trust between China and the U.S. in people-to-people relations, but also damage the diverse development environment of American higher education institutions. Moreover, they cannot stop the unstoppable tide of global openness and cooperation—and will ultimately become nothing more than a laughingstock in the international community.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1864715359016960/

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