On May 30, at Harvard University’s commencement ceremony, Chinese graduate student Yurong “Luanna” Jiang (蒋雨融) delivered a speech that sparked controversy for allegedly echoing Chinese Communist Party (CCP) propaganda. The title of her speech was “Our Humanity”, and it included language reminiscent of the CCP’s “Community of Shared Future for Mankind” (人类命运共同体) doctrine. She stated:
- “Humanity rises and falls as one”
- “If we still believe in a shared future, let us not forget…”
- “Our shared humanity…”
Many Chinese netizens viewed her speech and discussed it, since Jiang was the first Chinese student to deliver a commencement address on behalf of Harvard graduates. Her message calling for the inclusion of more international students was seen by some as a veiled response to ongoing tensions between the Trump-era immigration policies and Harvard’s advocacy for international student rights.
Online sleuths also uncovered her background. According to publicly available information from mainland China, Luanna Jiang’s father, Jiang Zhiming, is the Executive Director of the Green Future Technology Development Fund, part of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation (CBCGDF). The organization is described on its official Weibo account as a national public welfare foundation approved by the State Council, overseen by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and registered with the Ministry of Civil Affairs, with a mission focused on biodiversity conservation and green development.
Netizens even found that CBCGDF published a report authored by Luanna Jiang’s father, stating that due to the recommendation of Zhou Jinfeng, the Secretary-General and Vice Chairman of the CBCGDF, Harvard University accepted Jiang as a student. Luanna later posted that though she obtained the recommendation letter from Zhou, she didn’t use it – she submitted three other recommendations instead. Then the interesting questions are why did her father author such an article? Also, can a normal person obtain such a recommendation without a well-connected family?
Some netizens pointed out that this is a case where people with power create opportunities for their children, and that Jiang is likely to return to China to some relatively privileged position (due to her family’s power) as it will be hard for someone who majored in ‘International Development’ to find a job in the U.S.
Sources:
1. CReaders.net, May 31, 2025
https://news.creaders.net/us/2025/05/31/2875141.htmlMay 31, 2025
2. Phoenix, May 31, 2025
https://news.ifeng.com/c/8jp9lWrVji3