The U.S. has long been dependent on Chinese investment and immigration, despite rhetoric about confronting Beijing. President Trump recently defended his claim that 600,000 Chinese college students entering the U.S. would benefit the country, stating that “half the colleges in America would go out of business” without them. This perspective frames foreign students as economic units rather than cultural or national security concerns, ignoring the broader implications of reliance on a hostile regime.
America’s relationship with China has been marked by contradictions. While Republican politicians label China as a geopolitical rival, few take meaningful steps to restrict Chinese immigration, investment, or influence. This inconsistency undermines the credibility of their rhetoric, as industries from real estate to research labs remain deeply tied to China’s markets.
Chinese nationals can buy land, start companies, and enroll in U.S. universities by the hundreds of thousands, with many institutions prioritizing foreign revenue over national interests. Universities, publicly subsidized and focused on educating Americans first, have become pipelines for foreign elites—sometimes including spies. Each Chinese student filling a seat displaces an American, while dollars propping up hostile regimes deepen dependence.
The Department of Justice has charged three Chinese nationals at the University of Michigan with smuggling research materials and stealing technology. Eric Weinstein has suggested theoretical physics is being throttled for fear of espionage, yet universities and Trump seem unfazed. Propping up higher education with Chinese cash isn’t just shortsighted—it’s insane. Colleges and universities have become leftist seminaries, charging astronomical tuition for courses that teach Americans to despise their parents and nation. They receive lavish government subsidies and still demand more.
Trump’s claim that “half the colleges” would collapse without Chinese money is dubious, but if true, those institutions deserve to fail. Destroying patronage networks producing radical activists was once a Trumpian goal; reviving them with foreign money would be an act of political masochism. Why should we play Russian roulette with our national security to pad their bottom line?
Chinese money poisons more than academia. Nationals and shell companies routinely buy American land, including property near military bases. A recent purchase of an RV park in Missouri by a Chinese couple placed them next to Whiteman Air Force Base, home of the B-2 stealth bomber fleet. Similar shadowy transactions dot the map.
The pandemic exposed the madness of this dependence. The same regime that unleashed a virus on the world also controlled supply chains for medicine and protective gear needed to fight it. Yet America’s political class still refuses to sever the tie, too addicted to Chinese money and too invested in pretending dependency equals diplomacy.
If the GOP is serious about confronting China, it must start by cutting every cord of reliance. Banning Chinese students from U.S. universities would be a simple, symbolic first step—striking directly at the heart of the progressive academic machine.
