Terrible idea: The hidden danger behind China’s student exchange push

On Sept. 24, during his first state visit to the U.S. since 2023, Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping announced that China will invite 100,000 American students to participate in exchange programs over the next five years.

The number of American citizens studying in China has fallen to less than 2,000 , well below the 2012 peak of about 15,000 . Though Xi’s offer may seem benign, the risks associated with allowing 100,000 American students to study in China far outweigh the benefits in multiple respects.

Washington needs to reject this invitation.

Beijing is known for its arbitrary and coercive use of exit bans on foreign nationals, which have increased in recent years. It’s estimated that Chinese officials have barred dozens of American citizens from exiting the country and have detained more than 200 , the highest number of Americans held by any country.

Notable examples of China’s hostage-taking include Mark Swidan — an American who was freed in a 2024 prisoner swap after having been imprisoned since 2012 on false drug charges — and, most recently, Min Zin, an American scholar specializing in Myanmar, whom the Chinese government invited to attend an academic conference and is now being held at an undisclosed location.

You read that correctly. Beijing invited Min Zin, then arrested him.

Imagine the leverage the Chinese government would gain in its hostage diplomacy if the U.S. were to send thousands of Americans to study in China. Beijing could use those students to force concessions from Washington, or seriously harm them if U.S.-China bilateral relations were to worsen.

This scheme would also provide Beijing the opportunity to indoctrinate young Americans en masse.

Chinese officials will use these trips and exchange programs to present our students with an image of the country that belies the truth — a country that’s technologically advanced, environmentally conscious (despite being the world’s leading carbon emitter ), respectful of all ethnic groups within its borders (despite the Uyghur genocide ) and peaceful (despite its military activity around Taiwan and in the South China Sea ).

Young Americans tend to hold more favorable views of China. Only 62 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 29 expressed some level of concern about China’s ability to spy on American citizens, versus 93 percent of Americans age 65 and older. Gen Z is less likely than older cohorts to view China’s rise as a threat to the U.S., and prefers a policy of engagement with the communist country.

When it comes to students at elite universities, the results are even more alarming. At Yale University, only 35 percent of first-year students hold negative views of China compared to 63 percent who feel the same way about Israel.

Chinese officials are aware of this generational gap and will continue to use it to their advantage — unless something is done to reverse this trend.

And it should go without saying that drastically increasing the number of American students participating in Chinese exchange programs poses a threat to our national security and military industrial base.

The Chinese government is engaged in a rapid military buildup and nuclear modernization project. It is through military-civil fusion — a strategy that blurs the boundaries between the academic, commercial and defense sectors — that the Chinese Communist Party aims to transform the People’s Liberation Army into a “world-class” military by 2049.

It’s no secret that Beijing has exploited the openness of American higher education and research institutes to gain access to American dual-use scientific research and innovations to aid its military modernization efforts. American academics and university leadership have often recklessly contributed to this risk.

Beijing would likely use American STEM students studying in China to extract information about ongoing research projects at American university labs that receive federal funding and exploit their talents to enrich Chinese military research initiatives, all under the guise of scientific cooperation and advancement.

It’s true that America is always in need of more China experts, but sending young Americans to China in droves isn’t the way to accomplish this.

Want to learn Mandarin? Enroll in a language training program in Taiwan. Want to understand the Chinese Communist Party’s propaganda and repression tactics? Interview dissidents and our government officials who are on the frontlines of countering Beijing’s information warfare. There are plenty of ways to study communist China from a safe distance.

If anything, Washington should bring home the American students who are currently in China and consider upgrading the State Department’s travel advisory for the communist country to either a level three or four. We find ourselves in a Cold War with Beijing, and we ought to treat it as such.

Erik Durneika is opinion editor of the Leadership Institute’s Campus Reform . He previously served as a columnist at RedState, covering national security and foreign affairs. He has conducted research for the Uyghur Human Rights Project and served as a distinguished visiting researcher at National Taiwan University.