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Number of Chinese Students in U.S. Drops for Fourth Consecutive Year

According to a Caixin.com report, data shows that the number of Chinese international students studying in the United States has declined for four years in a row. In the past academic year, there were 289,000 Chinese students in the U.S., accounting for 27% of all international students in the country. This represents a small 0.2% decrease compared to the previous year.

The data comes from the Open Doors 2023 report recently published by the Institute of International Education (IIE). The report found that the total number of international students in the U.S. reached 1.05 million last year, a 12% increase compared to the year before. Currently, China remains the top source of international students in the U.S., accounting for 27% of all international students. India is next-largest source, accounting for 25% of international students. While the number of Chinese students dropped slightly year-over-year, the number of Indian students rapidly increased, growing by 35%.

The Open Doors report suggested that several factors could be contributing to the decline in Chinese students studying in the U.S., including geopolitical tensions between the two countries and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on international student mobility over the past few years.

Source: Radio Free Asia, November 22, 2023
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/Xinwen/5-11222023124233.html

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

Pro-CCP Crowd Attacked Anti-CCP Protesters During Xi Jinping’s Visit to San Francisco

Chinese Embassies and Consulates in the United States organized many Chinese associations and student associations to welcome Xi Jinping when he attended the APEC meeting and the Biden-Xi Summit in San Francisco from November 15 to 17. These pro-Chinese Communist Party (CCP) people outnumbered the anti-CCP protesters by several times. Over a dozen incidents were reported where pro-CCP people attacked anti-CCP protesters and injured them.

A representative of the Chinese Democratic Party, which opposes the CCP and is banned in mainland China, said that 24 of the group’s members were assaulted by individuals associated with pro-CCP overseas groups, resulting in several injuries. The China Democracy and Human Rights Alliance, as well as the Democracy Front, reported that several of their protesters were also assaulted.

Protester Jia Junwei told Voice of America that “They chased me continuously. After surrounding me with the Chinese flag, a woman in her forties or fifties knocked me down. Then, they kicked my head, and used the flagpole to attack my head. Later, I was taken to the hospital.” Hong Kong protester Zhou Qihong, 74, was assaulted twice on November 15 and 17 in different locations by pro-Communist thugs. Topjor Tsultrim, a member of the Free Tibet organization, informed Voice of America, “At least 30 Tibetan protesters were beaten by pro-CCP groups. The attack at the airport protest site on November 17 was the most intense one against the Tibetan protesters. Three young Tibetan university students were attacked by over 20 Chinese individuals with metal rods, resulting in head injuries and broken bones. Eventually, they had to be taken to the hospital. On the same day, several Tibetans were struck with flags, stabbed with iron rods, and women’s hair was pulled. One of our activists was recording everything when her phone was snatched from her and thrown into the river.”

The San Francisco police didn’t arrest any pro-CCP persons. They did arrested protester Jie Lijian, however.

Jie was released from the San Francisco County Jail without bail on November 20. He told Voice of America, “We were peacefully protesting, and people from Chinese overseas groups attacked my back and head with flagpoles and steel pipes. I began vomiting and needed to use the restroom. In the process of finding a restroom, I was isolated and arrested by the police in an alley.” Jie also said, “If I didn’t defend myself in a situation where my head was being attacked with steel pipes, I wouldn’t be here speaking with everyone. I might have been beaten to death by the other party.”

Many human rights activists believe these attacks should not be allowed to happen in the U.S. They show the CCP’s long-armed influence on U.S. soil. Chinese human rights groups and pro-democracy activists have kept tally of beatings and injuries by the pro-CCP groups; they are planning to provide evidence criminal conduct to the FBI and Congress.

Source: Voice of America, November 22, 2023
https://www.voachinese.com/a/congress-urged-to-probe-attacks-on-chinese-dissidents-in-xi-jinping-protest-20231121/7364581.html

Briefings | | |   @CS Government/Politics US-China Relations

More International Students in the U.S. Come From China Than Anywhere Else

Well-known Chinese news site Sina (NASDAQ: SINA) recently published an article highlighting statistics from the Open Doors Report, a publication on international students studying in the U.S. The Open Doors Report is jointly released by the U.S. State Department and the non-profit Institute of International Education

According to the article, the 2022-23 academic year saw the number of international students in the U.S. higher-education system reach 1.057 million, an increase of nearly 12 percent over the year before. This was the biggest annual increase in more than 40 years.

China remains the largest source of international students in the United States. During the 2022-23 academic year, the total number of Chinese students studying in the United States was 289,500. This number has declined for the third consecutive year, although there are still more Chinese students in the U.S. than students from any other non-U.S. country.

Meanwhile, American universities are concentrating on recruiting students from India. In the 2022-23 academic year, the total number of Indian students in the United States reached 268,900, an increase of 35 percent. There are 24 U.S. states in which the number of students from India exceeds the number of students from China, including Illinois, Texas and Michigan. The majority of these Indian students – nearly 166,000 – are pursuing master’s degrees or working toward other advanced credentials.

Among international students in the U.S., graduate enrollment increased by 21 percent and undergraduate enrollment increased by only one percent. This is contrary to the trend of the past decade, which saw greater increases in undergraduate enrollment.

Mathematics and computer science majors, which attract more international students than any other major, saw enrollment increase by 20 percent over the previous year, with Engineering and Commerce following close behind.

After China and India, the other countries that sent the most students to the United States were South Korea, Canada, and Vietnam.

Source: Sina, November 14, 2023
https://edu.sina.com.cn/a/2023-11-14/doc-imzuqpzn9533439.shtml

Briefings | | |   US-China Relations

CCP Hires “Fans” to Stage Warm Welcome for Xi Jinping in San Francisco

The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is known for faking things. Whenever its leader visits a country, the Chinese embassies or consulates arrange for Chinese students and other people to stage “voluntary” welcome scenes at the airport or on the street, meant to look like “grassroots” support for the VIP.

Online information shows that such a welcome was put on when Xi Jinping came to San Francisco for the APEC meeting on November 15. An online screenshot revealed that the leader of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) at the University of Southern California (USC) notified the association’s cadres:

“[I] Just received a notice from the Chinese Consulate at Los Angeles, next week from the 13th to the 17th, Xi Jinping will visit the United States. Students from USC CSSA are invited to go to San Francisco to welcome him. Since it is inappropriate to publicize the schedule, we currently only know the following:

  • Students who sign up will all ride a bus to SF.
  • For everyone’s safety, you are not allowed to arrange your own trip or engage in independent activities.
  • All travel expenses and accommodation for food and board are covered.
  • If you want to participate, please contact me before 4:00! Once you sign up, you cannot withdraw.”

On November 16th, a posting on social media platform X showed that some students complained about not getting what the CCP promised earlier (Note: the Chinese consulate usually brings people from multiple places, so this may not come from the USC CSSA):

“1. The Chinese embassy claimed there would be free meals, but only some people received them, and most ordinary students did not.
2. There was a promise of a $400 subsidy per person, but in the end the CSSA told students it will be only $100.
3. Students who expressed desire to withdraw from the participation were directly warned that it would be recorded in their files in China, making them unable to join the communist party or take civil service exams in the future.”

Source: Epoch Times, November 16, 2023
https://www.epochtimes.com/gb/23/11/16/n14117681.htm

Briefings | | |   @CS Government/Politics US-China Relations

Discipline Inspector: Diplomats Face High Risk of Being Turned by Foreign Forces

The latest issue of “China Discipline Inspection and Supervision” magazine recently published a signed article by Zhang Jiwen (张际文), the head of the Discipline Inspection and Supervision Team stationed at the Office of Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) Central Foreign Affairs Working Committee. The CCP Central Foreign Affairs Working Committee is the highest CCP organ that oversees China’s foreign affair work, including the work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The article says that Chinese diplomatic and foreign affairs officials are the main workforce of foreign affairs work and are at the forefront of such work. They face a relatively high risk of being turned (i.e. recruited) or bribed by foreign forces.

Some commentators view this as a hint regarding what happened to Qin Gang (秦刚), China’s former Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Source: The Paper, November 4, 2023
https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail_forward_25180379

Briefings | | |   Government/Politics US-China Relations

Chinese Automakers to Produce Cars in Mexico

Chinese automakers are eyeing the American car market, making substantial investments in Mexico so that they can take advantage of geopolitical and trade agreement benefits. Since China faces high tariffs and restrictions on exporting cars to the U.S., Mexico’s strategic location and the USMCA trade agreement have made the country a favorable location for Chinese companies to produce electric vehicles (EVs) for export to the U.S.

Beijing’s strong support for China’s domestic electric vehicle industry, along with the prominence of Chinese company CATL as the world’s largest lithium battery producer, has positioned China as a major player in the EV market. Chinese automakers, such as JAC and Giant Motors, have already been assembling cars in Mexico for several years. Recently, Chinese companies Chery and Foton also began setting up factories in Mexico.

Source: Voice of America, November 1, 2023
https://www.voachinese.com/a/focusing-on-the-us-ev-market-chinese-companies-invest-heavily-in-mexico-20231031/7335006.html

Briefings | | |   @CS Economy/Resources Geo-Strategic Trend US-China Relations

Chinese Companies Stocked Up as US Chip Export Controls Tighten

On October 17th the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) issued an announcement expanding the scope of controls on the export of advanced computer chips to China. This action directly affects semiconductor giant NVIDIA’s sale of “special edition” A800 and H800 chips to China and other regions. The expanded export controls also restricts Dutch ASML from exporting certain machine models to China. Additionally, it added Chinese companies Biren Technology and Moore Thread and their subsidiaries to the “Entity List” to restrict export to them.

Many Chinese Artificial Intelligence (AI) startups have already acted to stock up on chips prior to the ban. Through various channels such as service providers, middlemen, and foreign trade agents, these Chinese companies are trying to prevent their previous orders from being cancelled while exploring avenues for obtaining additional chips in the short term.

Market research firm Counterpoint estimated that Chinese companies are now lagging behind global counterparts by about 2.5 to 3 years in fields like generative AI. According to Counterpoint, chip acquisition is not the sole factor driving this lag. The gap between China and its global counterparts is expected to widen over the next few years.

Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 23, 2023
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202310230203.aspx

Briefings | | |   Economy/Resources US-China Relations

China Alienates Israel: Picking Sides by Bloc, Not by Country-Level Relationship

Zhang Ping, a Chinese scholar living in Israel, posted a tweet on X about why China has chosen not to condemn Hamas, alienating Israel following the start of the Israel-Hamas war. China made this decision despite good relations between Israel and China in the past.

Zhang Ping said that the world’s nations are now bifurcating into two blocs: the China-Russia-Iran camp, and the opposing camp led by the U.S. and its allies (including Israel). This bloc-based logic is now guiding China’s strategy for international relations.

In the past, China’s modus operandi was something like “which camp you belong to doesn’t matter; what matters is whether our relationship is good.” Recently, however, China’s operating principle has changed to “our relationship does not matter; what matters is which camp you belong to.” According to Zhang Ping, this shift in attitude started during the Russia-Ukraine War and has further developed during the recent Israel-Hamas war. Both Israel and Ukraine had good relations with China in the past. However, once conflicts arose, China chose to use bloc membership as its guiding principle, being unwilling to support either Ukraine or Israel.

During the time of globalization prior to these recent wars, individual relationships between countries held more weight [in Beijing’s eyes] than did bloc allegiances. This enabled countries, including Israel and Australia, to engage with China despite their being U.S. allies. Both Israel and Australia provided strategic port access to the Chinese, with Israel even allowing China a certain amount of control over two of its largest strategic ports in Haifa and Ashdod. Now, however, China will not support these countries no matter how good their past relations have been, as they belong to the Western camp rather than the Chinese camp. Meanwhile, European nations relied on Russia for their energy needs in the past, whereas the West has unified against Russia following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Source: Twitter @pingzhang632, Oct 17, 2023

Briefings | | |   @CS Geo-Strategic Trend US-China Relations