America's Campus Wars and its China Connection

The US Must Remain Open to the World's Talent, But It Also Must Be Smart. Visa and Research Screening Should Include Affiliations, Risk, and Research Domains... Universities Must Also Be Held Accountable

- Vivek Wadhwa

The US announced last week it is revoking the visas of hundreds of Chinese nationals studying and researching in high-value science and engineering fields. This sweeping decision by the Trump administration represents a major escalation in tensions with Beijing and is aimed at curbing what it describes as the Chinese Communist Party's efforts to steal US intellectual property through academic institutions.

The decision has triggered protests from American universities and reignited debates about immigration, openness, and national security. But it also marks a turning point. For the first time in decades, the US is limiting academic access on national security grounds—a move that, while controversial, is not without justification.

As someone who has taught at Duke, Stanford, Harvard, and Carnegie Mellon, I have long believed in the power of openness. The US has led in innovation precisely because it has welcomed the world's brightest minds. Over the last four decades, its top universities have drawn extraordinary talent from countries like China and India. These students have earned advanced degrees, contributed to major breakthroughs, launched start-ups, and helped build the US tech economy.

Many of my students from China and India were among the most diligent, creative, and capable I have taught. At Carnegie Mellon's Silicon Valley campus, where I taught a course on exponential innovation—covering Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics, cybersecurity, and synthetic biology—more than half of the class was Chinese. Most of them were outstanding and will no doubt go on to do great things. But not all Chinese students come to the US solely to learn.