Student's Graduation Speech Resonates at Harvard as Trump Instigates Chinese Student Clampdown
In the halls of Harvard University, a blazing graduation speech ignited by a Chinese student, Yurong "Luanna" Jiang, has swiftly swept across the digital landscape, days after the Trump administration declared its determination to annihilate visas of students hailing from China.
Luanna, the first Chinese woman to ever grace the student speaker role at a Harvard graduation, delivered her impassioned speech on a day that marked a significant clash between the Department of Homeland Security and the esteemed Ivy League university.
The catalyst for this showdown was a federal judge's decision to bar a departmental order intent on confining Harvard from admitting international students. As the curtains fall on the Trump presidency, the White House continues to accuse Harvard of sustaining bonds with the Chinese Communist Party.
This power struggle unfolds amidst the frostiest era of US-China relations, where acidic tensions continue to mount between the two superpowers.
Last week, the US State Department announced their decision to intensify screening and revoke student visas aggressively for Chinese nationals, including those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party or pursuing advanced studies in critical fields.
The move stems from longstanding fears that Chinese students enrolled in advanced science and engineering programs might engage in espionage activities, thereby augmenting China's military capabilities and posing a significant national security threat.
Harvard's feud with the administration isn't an isolated incident. The Ivy League institution, alongside other institutions like Columbia and Princeton, has also weathered scrutiny for supposedly nurturing antisemitism following widespread pro-Palestinian demonstrations during the Gaza war. These academic titans now grapple with substantial federal funding cuts.
In her tear-streaked speech, Luanna defended the role of international students in forging a globally interconnected world, underscoring her concerns that, "a connected world" constructed upon diversity and international development is giving way to division, fear, and conflict.
Harvard hosts more than 10,000 international students, making up approximately 30% of its student body. Among them, around 2,000 are Chinese students.
"Humanity rises and falls as one," Luanna asserted.
"But today... we're starting to believe that people who think differently, vote differently, or pray differently - whether they're across the ocean or sitting right next to us - are not just wrong. We mistakenly see them as evil. But it doesn't have to be this way.
"If we still believe in a shared future, let us not forget: those we label as enemies - they, too, are human. In seeing their humanity, we find our own. In the end, we don't rise by proving each other wrong. We rise by refusing to let one another go."
Luanna didn't explicitly refer to Trump's immigration policies in her speech. However, she later shared with the Associated Press that the recent threats of detention or deportation of international students had instilled a sense of anxious uncertainty among them about their future in the United States.
Luanna told the press she was contemplating pursuing international development work abroad instead of staying put, while two of her Chinese classmates debated whether to seek internships in Africa, dreading the possibility of being unable to return if they left.
Luanna emphasized the need for increased US-China academic exchange, suggesting that the world's two largest economies should collaborate on global issues such as climate change.
Her speech sparked spirited discussions on both Chinese and American social media, drawing remarks from political commentators in the US who questioned her CCP ties. A prominent social media account titled "amuse" jeered at Luanna, insinuating that she was a representative of a CCP-funded and monitored NGO.
The account, followed by high-profile figures including Elon Musk and Trump's children Donald Trump Jnr and Ivanka Trump, accused Luanna of "parroting [Chinese President] Xi Jinping's diplomatic rhetoric about a 'shared future for mankind'."
The account has previously propagated pro-Trump content, including misinformation about former vice-president Kamala Harris and the pop star Taylor Swift.
According to the state-backed website ThePaper.cn, Luanna volunteered for the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation, an environmental organization founded in 1985 by the State Council, China's cabinet.
Luanna received a recommendation letter from the foundation's secretary-general for her Harvard application. However, her connections to state-linked organizations remain a topic of speculation.
The speech received positive endorsements on Chinese social media, with many embracing her vision of "a shared humanity." However, some users voiced concerns about Luanna's representativeness of the broader Chinese student population, given her elite education background.
According to Harvard Magazine, Luanna attended high school in the United Kingdom after growing up in eastern China. She completed her undergraduate degree at Duke University before enrolling in the Harvard Kennedy School for a master's degree.
- The blazing graduation speech by Yurong "Luanna" Jiang, a Chinese student at Harvard University, touched on the importance of education and self-development, discussing the significance of a globally interconnected world and expressing concerns about division and fear replacing it.
- Amidst the ongoing power struggle between the US and China, the recent political developments, such as the Trump administration's immigration policies threatening the visas of international students and the accusations of CCP ties against Chinese students, have become a hot topic in the realm of general news, with Luanna's speech sparking debates on both Chinese and American social media.
