State Department will counter CCP 'exploitation' of U.S. research amid efforts to revoke student visas, spokesperson says

One day after Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the U.S. would scale back visas to Chinese students, a department spokesperson emphasized that the Trump administration would fight back against China’s “exploitation” of American research and intellectual property.

Spokesperson for the Department of State Tammy Bruce delivered her warning against the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) during a press briefing on Thursday.

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”The United States, I further can say here, will not tolerate the CCP’s exploitation of U.S. universities or theft of U.S. research, intellectual property, or technologies to grow its military power, conduct intelligence collection, or repress voices of opposition,” Bruce said.

In her opening remarks, Bruce noted that initiatives like pulling visas from CCP-linked students are part of the department’s updated “America First” reorganizing.

”Every visa adjudication is a national security decision - every single one of them,” Bruce continued.

The spokesperson noted China’s extensive role in “exploiting” American intellectual property and research, adding that the State Department’s latest strategy is “one way that [the department] can certainly try to mitigate that issue.” 

In a brief press release on Wednesday, Secretary Rubio said that revoking student visas would place “America First, not China.”

”I think everyone who’s here on a visa has to recognize ... that America takes their visa seriously, that vetting is not a one-time process - it’s continuing,” Bruce said.

”But I do think that with this particular dynamic, it’s clear that there is an interest in making sure that those who are here from China on a visa understand that we are taking our national security seriously and we are looking at their visas,” she acknowledged. “And if everything is fine, terrific. But that will be a vetting that certainly continues and is important, clearly, to the administration.”

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Since his first term, President Trump has been vocal in his support to combat CCP influence in American education. 

In recent months, the Education Department has launched various investigations into American universities over their funding from China, including schools like the University of Pennsylvania and the University of California, Berkeley.