WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Senator Rick Scott sent a letter to President Donald Trump commending his work to hold United States adversary, Communist China, and its dangerous regime accountable, and asked that the president build on these efforts by cracking down on Chinese nationals at American universities and immediately suspend new visa approvals for students from China. Senator Scott notes Communist China’s continued aggressive trade behavior, track record of stealing American intellectual property and research at universities, and the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) authority to compel espionage from any of its citizens as direct and dangerous threats to our nation’s national security.

This builds on Senator Scott’s previously introduced legislation aimed at countering threats from the CCP and other authoritarian regimes that use strict national intelligence laws to require their citizens to engage in espionage abroad. A second bill, the DHS Restrictions on Confucius Institutes and Chinese Entities of Concern Act, would remove Chinese Communist Party-linked spies from U.S. universities by preventing all Department of Homeland Security grants from being awarded to American universities that have affiliations tied to the CCP and known for its espionage and theft of American research and IP.

Read the letter HERE or below:

Dear President Trump:

I am writing to commend your decisive response to China's unprecedented trade aggression and to recommend taking matching action for the approximately 300,000 Chinese national students currently enrolled in American universities.

Your announcement regarding China's "extraordinarily aggressive position on trade" further demonstrates China’s intention to engage in bad faith negotiations. In the years since the United States removed Communist China’s annual review of its most favored nation (MFN) status, Beijing has committed to an ongoing campaign of economic warfare against the United States, and patriotic American workers and manufacturers have paid the price. Xi Jinping and his thugs are now doubling down against the United States by imposing wide-reaching export controls on rare earth minerals.

Your response of imposing an additional 100% tariff on China and export controls on sensitive technology was both appropriate and necessary. However, the impact of this economic countermeasure can be more pronounced by pairing it with action against a key priority for Communist China—the 300,000 Chinese nationals embedded in our university system.

Chinese law requires any Chinese national to report back to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) when compelled. This means that every Chinese national in America, including every student, is legally obligated to spy for Xi and his thugs in the CCP. There are no exceptions, and refusal can result in criminal prosecution, threats against family members in China, property confiscation, and even revocation of citizenship.

In some cases, the relationships Chinese students form with their American counterparts have also been exploited, as we’ve seen in the CCP’s Thousand Talents Program, where Chinese students secretly recruit American academics to steal our technologies and use them to advance their own military and economic goals.

These students also study artificial intelligence, quantum computing, biotechnology, aerospace, and other technologies that are subject to your new export controls. What we deny China through trade policy, the CCP will attempt to acquire through their student population’s access to our sensitive technology.

You have rightly imposed the strongest trade measures in modern history against Communist China. Those measures should be further strengthened by countering China’s ability to maintain broad access to our most sensitive research institutions and technologies. We cannot fight an economic war while hosting the enemy. This is why I recommend taking the following actions in coordination with your trade measures:

1. Suspend new student visas for Chinese nationals;
2. Implement phased removal of current Chinese students, prioritizing:
1. All students in programs related to technologies under export control;
2. Students in federally funded research programs; and
3. Students in STEM fields related to national security;
3. Completely ban Chinese nationals in the U.S. from conducting any research involving dual-use technologies, defense applications, and critical infrastructure.

China’s trade aggression proves they are not operating in good faith. We must therefore take decisive action to protect American innovation, technology, and national security. Thank you for always putting America first, and I’m confident you will continue to do so.

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