During the summer of 2023, a group of Tsinghua University students visited the United States, led by one faculty member. The Gen Z team comprises students from various disciplines and had a chance to observe the United States from within. The visit is said to be the first by a THU team since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, and given that these are some of China’s brightest students, Beijing Channel took the opportunity to interview the students after their return, to discover that they experienced, observed and felt.
Thanks for sharing. Found it interesting and useful. Hope no one was put off by the questioning. It is unpleasant but that is all it is; just questions and probably fishing for persons who might work for as well as against the US. I wouldn't like it either but it is a unique and safe experience that one might very well look back upon favorably as one gets older.
OMG! How horrible. Are we really this stupid? Who in their right mind is going to try to use college students on a tour to spy on another country? I've lived in Belgium and Iran and I've spent time in Ecuador and Costa Rica and I've never had anything like that happen to me. The physics student is probably the epitome of what is wrong here. I am a physicist and when you're in school, you're learning the fundamental workings of the universe, you're not learning military applications of physics principles. But apparently, the custom's officers aren't bright enough to realize that which is why we need bright immigrants to come to the US but the US seems hell bent on driving any that come here away. Enlightening.
"The students described the U.S. position as “arrogant”, and Cathy of the School of Business Management said the discussion gave her the feeling that Washington considered Taiwan an independent political entity."
Newsflash, Cathy and fellow Tsinghua elites: Taiwan *is* an independent political entity. That these bright young things consider the reality of this position to be "arrogant" speaks volumes for the environment in which they were raised/educated; and indeed of the performative demands placed on even the most open-minded of PRC students in these hyper-nationalistic times. There is a sense of predetermination about the negative slant presented here, and no doubt the ever-present pressure to conform with—or not be seen as opposing—the prevailing tide of anti-Americanism played its part.
That said, yes, it can be a tough—and oftentimes unreasonable—gig being a PRC student abroad, but let's have some respect for: 1. the unverified claims made about the nature of immigration officials' questioning (though I've no doubt it wasn't coffee & cookies); 2. the staggering level of Beijing-sponsored espionage and IP theft that the US *actually* suffers annually; 3. the skepticism required in reading an account that echoes so much of Beijing's anti-US rhetoric, namely: they're arrogant; they're prejudiced/racist/anti-China; their society is in decay; they're troublemaking over Taiwan.
And yet the US is still where these students want to be.
How horrible! I feel so badly for these students and the racism they had to face.
Thanks for sharing. Found it interesting and useful. Hope no one was put off by the questioning. It is unpleasant but that is all it is; just questions and probably fishing for persons who might work for as well as against the US. I wouldn't like it either but it is a unique and safe experience that one might very well look back upon favorably as one gets older.
So not just Washington Dulles airport...
OMG! How horrible. Are we really this stupid? Who in their right mind is going to try to use college students on a tour to spy on another country? I've lived in Belgium and Iran and I've spent time in Ecuador and Costa Rica and I've never had anything like that happen to me. The physics student is probably the epitome of what is wrong here. I am a physicist and when you're in school, you're learning the fundamental workings of the universe, you're not learning military applications of physics principles. But apparently, the custom's officers aren't bright enough to realize that which is why we need bright immigrants to come to the US but the US seems hell bent on driving any that come here away. Enlightening.
"The students described the U.S. position as “arrogant”, and Cathy of the School of Business Management said the discussion gave her the feeling that Washington considered Taiwan an independent political entity."
Newsflash, Cathy and fellow Tsinghua elites: Taiwan *is* an independent political entity. That these bright young things consider the reality of this position to be "arrogant" speaks volumes for the environment in which they were raised/educated; and indeed of the performative demands placed on even the most open-minded of PRC students in these hyper-nationalistic times. There is a sense of predetermination about the negative slant presented here, and no doubt the ever-present pressure to conform with—or not be seen as opposing—the prevailing tide of anti-Americanism played its part.
That said, yes, it can be a tough—and oftentimes unreasonable—gig being a PRC student abroad, but let's have some respect for: 1. the unverified claims made about the nature of immigration officials' questioning (though I've no doubt it wasn't coffee & cookies); 2. the staggering level of Beijing-sponsored espionage and IP theft that the US *actually* suffers annually; 3. the skepticism required in reading an account that echoes so much of Beijing's anti-US rhetoric, namely: they're arrogant; they're prejudiced/racist/anti-China; their society is in decay; they're troublemaking over Taiwan.
And yet the US is still where these students want to be.
Why? You are coming into a country.
I've had my car searched coming into Canada. Should I hate the Canadians?