‘Stop discriminatory measures’: Beijing slams growing scrutiny of Chinese students in US

Foreign ministry says US should protect student rights after House chair requests detailed information about Chinese nationals at top institutions

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Chinese students wait outside the US embassy in Beijing for visa application interviews. The Chinese government has urged the US to stop “generalising national security” amid growing scrutiny of Chinese nationals in the US. Photo: AP

Published: 7:18pm, 20 Mar 2025

China’s foreign ministry has urged the US to stop “discriminatory and restrictive measures” against Chinese students studying there, after the chair of a US House committee sent letters to some American universities asking for information about their entire Chinese student populations.

Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said on Thursday that education cooperation between China and the United States benefited both countries.

“We urge the United States to stop generalising national security, effectively protect the legitimate rights of Chinese students there, and … not take discriminatory and restrictive measures against the Chinese students,” she said.

“Educational cooperation has not only expanded the communication channels for students and enhanced the understanding between the peoples of the two countries, but also promoted the economic prosperity and technological development of the US.

“It is in the interests of both sides,” Mao said, adding that students from China accounted for about one-quarter of the total number of international students in the US.

Chinese nationals make up the second-largest group of foreign students in the US, after Indian citizens, according to figures from the State Department.

On Wednesday, John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the US House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, wrote to six American universities, including Stanford and Carnegie Mellon, requesting information about their policies on Chinese nationals, in the latest congressional attempt to curb the flow of Chinese students to the US over national security concerns.