A new investigation by Defending Education alleges that China’s Young Envoys Scholarship (YES) program provides Beijing with opportunities to influence American students and shape perceptions of China. Launched in 2024 after Xi Jinping invited 50,000 U.S. students to study in China over five years, the program is operated by the China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE). Defending Education says it has identified more than 83 universities and 27 K-12 schools across 30 states participating in YES.
The report focuses on CEAIE’s ties to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). CEAIE’s Chinese-language website identifies Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, and Xi Jinping Thought as its guiding ideologies and states that it adheres to CCP leadership. The organization’s leadership also includes former Chinese education officials and university Party secretaries. U.S. lawmakers have identified CEAIE as part of China’s United Front system and warned that CCP-affiliated organizations can use student exchanges as influence operations.
The investigation cites several examples of YES exchanges. In 2024, Muscatine High School students traveled to China on a trip fully funded by the Chinese government after Xi personally invited the school. Other participants included students from the University of Chicago, Columbia University, Indiana University, Carleton College, and Lincoln High School in Washington. Some exchanges involved Chinese organizations that U.S. officials or researchers have associated with CCP influence activities.
Defending Education argues that these programs go beyond ordinary cultural exchange because the trips are often government-funded, carefully organized, and subsequently promoted through Chinese state media, potentially giving Beijing an opportunity to shape young Americans’ views of China and the CCP.
Source: Defending Education, August 13, 2026
https://defendinged.org/investigations/little-red-classrooms-young-envoys-scholarship-program/