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Is the US arrogant to say it prefers Indian STEM students to Chinese nationals?

  • Young people and their families in China weigh up deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell’s comments about ‘security concerns’

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Kurt Campbell, Washington’s deputy state secretary, has told a US think tank that he would like to see more Chinese students studying the humanities instead of science. Photo: Shutterstock

A senior US official has sent chills down Chinese students and their families by suggesting that their studies at American universities will be restricted to the humanities by geopolitics.

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Deputy secretary of state Kurt Campbell said on Monday that his country needed to recruit more international students in STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) – but not from China.

Instead, Washington is setting its sights on attracting students from India – an increasingly important US security partner – he told an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations think tank.

He noted that US universities were already limiting Chinese students’ access to sensitive technology because of security concerns.

According to Campbell, the US should also welcome more students from China, but to study humanities rather than sciences. “I would like to see more Chinese students coming … to study humanities and social sciences, not particle physics.”

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While the number of students from China has fallen for three consecutive years through a combination of Covid-19 curbs and strained bilateral relations, the cohort remains the largest international group at US universities.
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