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

Harvard University’s links to China – long seen as an asset – have become a liability as the Trump administration accuses the campus of harbouring Beijing-backed influence operations.

On Thursday, the administration moved to revoke Harvard’s ability to enrol foreign students, alleging that the university had fostered antisemitism and collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party. Among those affected are Chinese nationals, who made up about a fifth of Harvard’s foreign student intake in 2024, according to the university.

A US judge on Friday temporarily blocked the order after Harvard, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, filed a legal challenge.

Concerns over Chinese government influence at Harvard are not new. Some US lawmakers – primarily Republicans – have long alleged that China seeks to manipulate institutions like Harvard to gain access to advanced technology, bypass security laws, and suppress criticism within the United States.

“For too long, Harvard has let the Chinese Communist Party exploit it,” a White House official told Reuters on Friday, adding that the university had “turned a blind eye to vigilante CCP-directed harassment on campus”.

HEALTH TRAINING

In a statement, the Chinese embassy in Washington said: “Educational exchanges and cooperation between China and the United States are mutually beneficial and should not be stigmatised.”

The presence of Chinese students at Harvard and the university’s broader links to China are not, in themselves, evidence of wrongdoing. However, the complexity and opacity of these relationships have drawn criticism.

The Trump administration’s China-related concerns echo those of the Republican-led House Select Committee on China.

For example, Harvard provided public health training to officials from the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC) after 2020. That same year, the US sanctioned the paramilitary organisation for alleged human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other Muslim ethnic groups in Xinjiang.

The Department of Homeland Security stated that Harvard’s engagements with XPCC continued “as recently as 2024”.

China strongly denies all allegations of abuse in Xinjiang, but both the Trump and Biden administrations have formally described Beijing’s actions in the region as “genocide”.

In another case that raised concerns, US business intelligence firm Strategy Risks reported that Ronnie Chan – who facilitated a $350 million donation to Harvard in 2014 leading to the naming of the TH Chan School of Public Health – is a member of the China-United States Exchange Foundation.

This Hong Kong-based organisation, which promotes dialogue between China and the US, is classified as a foreign principal under US law. American lobbyists working on its behalf must disclose those activities to the government.

FORMER PROFESSOR CONVICTED

Former Harvard professor Charles Lieber was investigated under the Trump-era China Initiative, a 2018 programme aimed at combating Chinese espionage and intellectual property theft, particularly in academic and research institutions.

Lieber was convicted in 2021 of lying about his financial ties to China in connection with federally funded research. In April, he joined a Chinese university as a full-time professor.

The China Initiative was later disbanded by the Biden administration amid concerns that it encouraged racial profiling and stifled international scientific collaboration.

Lawmakers from both parties have also raised concerns over Beijing-linked student associations monitoring political dissent. In April 2024, a Harvard student activist was physically removed from an event – not by staff or security but by a Chinese exchange student – after interrupting a speech by Chinese ambassador Xie Feng.

Harvard has come under growing pressure in Trump’s second term. In April, the US Department of Education asked the university to provide records of its foreign funding, citing incomplete and inaccurate reporting on large foreign-source donations and contracts.

Despite this, the administration’s actions have raised alarms among some China experts.

Yaqiu Wang, a US-based human rights researcher who originally came to the US from China as a student, criticised the move to ban foreign students from Harvard.

“The concerns over the Chinese government’s transnational repression attempts to silence critics are very legitimate, and espionage concerns are legitimate,” Wang said. “But to try to address that by banning not only Chinese students, but foreign students, is just beyond comprehension.”

Harvard has not yet responded to requests for comment.

The university stated that the revocation was punishment for Harvard’s “perceived viewpoint”, which it characterised as a violation of free speech rights under the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

Harvard’s ties to China – including research collaborations and China-focused academic centres – span decades. These connections have brought major financial contributions, international influence, and global prestige to the institution.