Long advantageous, Harvard's China ties become a political liability

24/5/2025 13:40

Harvard University's links to China, long an asset to the school, have become a liability as the Trump administration levels accusations that its campus is plagued by Beijing-backed influence operations.



On Thursday the administration moved to revoke Harvard's ability to enroll foreign students, saying it fostered antisemitism and coordinated with the Chinese Communist Party. The university said, among them are Chinese nationals who made up about a fifth of Harvard's foreign student intake in 2024.



A U.S. judge on Friday temporarily blocked the administration's order after the Cambridge, Massachusetts, university sued.



The concerns about Chinese government influence at Harvard are not new. Some U.S. lawmakers, many of them Republicans, have expressed worries that China is manipulating Harvard to gain access to U.S. advanced technology, to circumvent U.S. security laws and to stifle criticism of it in the United States.