Republican New Hampshire House candidate Lily Tang Williams on Tuesday warned that allowing more Chinese students to migrate to the U.S. would not be a smart move for the country.
President Donald Trump said on Monday that he would enable 600,000 students from China to study in the U.S. Williams said on “Fox & Friends First” that Chinese citizens are legally compelled to assist the Chinese government or else face repercussions and therefore must “be very carefully vetted.”
Different kinds of Chinese students: people like me who come here in the 1980s and 1990s, really want to come here, live under freedom and the land of free, for opportunity to have better lives,” Williams said. “Then later, after China joined the WTO [World Trade Organization] they’re still going to come here. They are the wealthy, powerful children and they come here with a certain test to perform.”
“Now, with [Chinese President] Xi Jinping’s Chinese national security and intelligence laws, they have to actually assist, to perform tasks for the Chinese government asks them to perform. Otherwise there will be serious consequences,” she continued. “Anybody who carries Chinese passport potentially needs to be very carefully vetted. And so I think this is not a good idea right now. And plus, we have so many come in during the [former President Joe] Biden years through the southern border. And where are they? Are they all out of our country yet? And are they vetted?”
The U.S. and China reached an agreement in June to enable Chinese students to attend American colleges and universities after the Trump administration suspended Harvard University’s ability to admit foreign nationals. The Trump administration cited national security concerns and allegations of antisemitism on college campuses in its efforts to limit foreign students from entering the country.
“I hear so many stories [about how] we’re not gonna allow their students. We’re gonna allow their students to come in,” Trump said on Monday. “We’re gonna allow 600,00 students. It’s very important, but we’re gonna get along with China.”
The president also told Daily Caller White House correspondent Reagan Reese in June that allowing Chinese students to attend U.S. schools would be beneficial, but that they must be scrutinized.