China's move as Harvard is banned from recruiting international students

(Dan Tri) - According to data from the Harvard International Student Office, international students account for more than 25% of Harvard's total student population, of which Chinese students are the largest group.

Chinese students in the US do not dare to return home for summer vacation

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has issued a statement affirming that it will protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students and scholars living and studying abroad.

The move comes shortly after the Trump administration banned Harvard University from enrolling international students. For many years, China has been the largest source of students studying in the US.

Jiang Fangzhou, 30, a Chinese graduate student at Harvard Kennedy School, said he was "shocked" to learn that his residency status was at risk. "I was stunned. I never thought it would go this far," Jiang said.

Prestigious American universities such as Harvard, Princeton and Yale have long been familiar names to the middle class in China.

Many people see studying at these schools as a way to access a world-classeducation that will give them better career opportunities when they return home, especially when the job market in China is fiercely competitive.

According to US media reports, many Chinese students studying at Harvard University have canceled their flights home and sought legal advice to be able to continue staying in the US.

In 2024, the number of Chinese students studying in the US dropped to about 277,000, compared to a peak of about 370,000 in 2019. The main reason is the escalating tensions between the world's two largest economies and the US government's increasing scrutiny of international students.

Harvard University campus (Photo: Reuters).

Zhang Kaiqi, 21, a master’s student in public health, was preparing to leave the US for China for the summer, but upon hearing about the ban, he immediately canceled his flight. Zhang accepted that he would miss out on an internship opportunity at a prestigious institution in China this summer.

"I was quite upset. Sometimes I even thought what I was reading was... fake news, because I couldn't believe it," Mr. Zhang shared.

Zhang said the Chinese student and graduate student community is actively sharing legal advice with each other. Most lawyers contacted have advised students not to leave the U.S. at this time and to wait for official guidance from their universities.

Ms. Zhao (23 years old) has been accepted to a master's program at Harvard. Zhao confirmed that she will continue to study in the US, but is considering deferring her admission for a year to monitor the situation, or transferring schools if the ban is enforced.

"My life plans have been turned upside down... I originally planned to apply for a visa early, but now I don't know what to do," Zhao shared, declining to reveal his full name for personal reasons.

Pippa Ebel, an education consultant in Guangzhou, China, said the ban on Harvard does not completely close the door to studying in the US for Chinese intellectuals, but it could be a move that causes many parents to decide to send their children to other countries.

“This is not a complete reversal, but it will increase concerns among parents in China,” Ms. Ebel said.

Harvard University is going through an unprecedented crisis in its 388-year history (Illustration: GI).

Wave of "repatriated brainpower"

According to statistics from the US State Department, China has been the country with the largest number of students studying in the US for 15 consecutive years since 2009. By 2024, this position will belong to India.

As the US and China increasingly compete in many areas to demonstrate their superpower status, the relationship in the field of education between the two countries may have to undergo a reshaping period.

Amidst the turmoil, the Chinese middle class has changed its view on studying abroad. According to the Straits Times (Singapore), more and more Chinese families are shifting to sending their children to study in other English-speaking countries such as the UK, Australia and Singapore.

According to the US media, the increasingly strict immigration policy under US President Donald Trump is creating a new wave of concern for thousands of international students in the US, as well as for the country's universities.

In the international student community in the US, Chinese students are the largest and most affected group.

Over the past year, both American and Chinese media have reported that a number of Chinese scholars have decided to leave the US to return home to take jobs at top universities in their home country. This is considered a wave of "brainpower returning home" to avoid unpredictable fluctuations.

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology campus (China) (Photo: Straits Times).

Immediately after Harvard University was banned from recruiting international students, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (China) issued a statement that it would unconditionally accept international students studying at Harvard University, as well as those who had received admission letters from Harvard.

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (China) ranked 66th in the world's best university rankings released by Times Higher Education (UK) this year.

According to the Straits Times (Singapore), Ms. Christine Choi - Secretary of Education of Hong Kong (China) - said that the special administrative region government has called on universities to prepare plans to "proactively receive" students affected by the ban and wishing to study in the fragrant harbor.

According to Straits Times/The Guardian

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/giao-duc/dong-thai-cua-trung-quoc-khi-harvard-bi-cam-tuyen-sinh-vien-quoc-te-20250525212122303.htm