Why Doesn’t Australia Wake Up and See this Threat if America Does? By James Reed
The Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act (referred to as the Stop CCP VISAs Act), introduced by Representative Riley Moore (R-WV) in March 2025, aims to ban all Chinese nationals from obtaining U.S. student visas. The primary reasons for this legislation, as articulated by its proponents, can be outlined as follows:
The Act is driven by fears that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) exploits the U.S. student visa program to conduct espionage. Proponents point to incidents like the 2024 FBI charges against five Chinese nationals, former University of Michigan students, accused of spying on joint U.S.-Taiwan military exercises while on student visas. This suggests that some Chinese students may act as agents or proxies for the CCP, gathering sensitive military or technological intelligence.
There is a widely held concern that Chinese students, particularly those in STEM fields, could be involved in stealing intellectual property from American universities and research institutions. The legislation frames this as a systemic risk, given the nearly 300,000 Chinese nationals entering the U.S. annually on student visas, some of whom may be directed or incentivised by the CCP to transfer cutting-edge research back to China.
The Act seeks to prevent the CCP from leveraging students to influence academic discourse, suppress dissent, or monitor pro-democracy activities within U.S. universities. Reports of Chinese Students and Scholars Associations (CSSAs), allegedly overseen by the CCP's United Front Work Department, intimidating dissident students or shaping narratives on campus, fuel this rationale.
Rather than targeting specific individuals with evidence of wrongdoing, the legislation adopts a blanket approach, arguing that the scale of Chinese student presence (approximately 300,000 annually) makes individual vetting impractical. It positions this as a necessary safeguard against an opaque authoritarian regime with a track record of exploiting open systems.
If the reasoning behind the Stop CCP VISAs Act holds in the U.S., it arguably applies with greater urgency to Australia, a country with a significantly higher proportional presence of Chinese students and deeper exposure to CCP influence. Here's why:
In Australia, Chinese students constitute a much larger share of the international student population compared to the U.S. In 2023, Australia hosted over 160,000 Chinese students, making up roughly 25-30 percent of its total international student cohort, whereas the U.S.'s 300,000 Chinese students represent a smaller fraction of its vastly larger higher education system (about 30 percent of international students, but a tiny percentage of total enrolment). Per capita, Australia's reliance on Chinese students is far greater, amplifying potential risks.
Australia's university sector is heavily dependent on tuition fees from Chinese students, supposedly contributing billions to the economy annually (estimated at AUD $12 billion pre-Covid, but this is challenged by Macrobusiness.com.au). This financial reliance creates a vulnerability: universities may be less inclined to scrutinise or challenge CCP-linked activities for fear of losing revenue, unlike the U.S., where funding is more diversified and less reliant on any single nationality.
Australia has seen well-documented cases of CCP influence on campuses, such as pro-democracy students from Hong Kong and mainland China facing harassment, surveillance, and threats from nationalist peers, often linked to CSSAs. A 2021 Human Rights Watch report highlighted how Chinese students self-censor out of fear of being reported to authorities back home, a phenomenon less pervasive in the U.S. due to its larger, more diffuse student population and stronger free speech protections. Australia's smaller size and proximity to China exacerbate this chilling effect.
Australia's location in the Indo-Pacific places it closer to China's sphere of influence, heightening its strategic importance to the CCP. Unlike the U.S., which is geographically distant and militarily dominant, Australia is a smaller power with a more immediate need to safeguard its sovereignty. Incidents like the 2017 revelations of CCP-linked political donations and influence operations underscore this vulnerability, suggesting that academic espionage could be part of a broader strategy.
The U.S. benefits from a robust counterintelligence apparatus (e.g., FBI, NSA) with extensive resources to monitor and mitigate foreign threats, including within academia. Australia's equivalent, ASIO, while competent, operates on a smaller scale and has historically struggled to keep pace with CCP activities. The 2019 establishment of the University Foreign Interference Taskforce indicates awareness of the problem, but its focus has been narrower (e.g., research security) compared to the U.S.'s comprehensive approach.
Australia has faced high-profile cases of academic freedom being undermined by CCP pressure, such as the 2017 suspension of a Monash University lecturer after Chinese students protested a quiz question perceived as anti-China. Such incidents suggest a greater susceptibility to CCP influence than in the U.S., where universities, while not immune, are generally better insulated by legal and cultural norms.
If the U.S. justifies the Stop CCP VISAs Act based on national security, intellectual property theft, and CCP influence, Australia has an even stronger case. Its higher proportional exposure to Chinese students, economic dependence, documented interference, geopolitical vulnerability, and relatively weaker defences amplify the risks identified in the U.S. context. While critics might argue that a blanket ban overlooks individual merit and harms cultural exchange, the logic of pre-emptive risk mitigation—central to the Act—applies more acutely to Australia, a nation "awash with Chinese students" and closer to the CCP's reach. Australia might not need an identical ban, but the underlying concerns suggest it should consider stricter measures than the U.S., not milder ones.
In short, it is time to end the international student education supermarket, and for this country to look after its own for a change.
https://www.newsweek.com/chinese-nationals-barred-student-visas-new-proposal-2044121
"A House Republican is set to introduce a bill that would bar Chinese nationals from obtaining visas to study in the United States.
First-term Representative Riley Moore of West Virginia will introduce the bill, known as the Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act, or the Stop CCP VISAs Act, later this week, a spokesperson for Moore told Newsweek.
Amid increased U.S.-China tensions, some Republicans have accused the Chinese Communist Party of exploiting the student visa program and using universities and academic institutions to engage in espionage, and several universities have ended partnerships with Chinese universities over national security concerns.
However, proposals to bar all Chinese nationals from studying in the U.S. face opposition from advocacy groups that say such policies are rooted in racism and xenophobia. A ban would also mean fewer international students contributing to the U.S. economy and would affect universities that depend on tuition fees paid by Chinese students.
The text of the bill, first reported by Fox News, says it would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to "prohibit the admission of Chinese nationals as non-immigrant students, and for other purposes."
It adds that an "alien who is a national of the People's Republic of China may not be issued a visa or otherwise provided status as a nonimmigrant under section 101(a)(15)(F), (J), or (M), for the purpose of conducting research or pursuing a course of study."
Representative Brandon Gill of Texas, another first-term Republican, has said he will co-sponsor the bill. Others expected to co-sponsor the bill include Republican Representatives Andy Ogles of Tennessee and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania
Moore has cited an incident in which five Chinese nationals were charged with covering up a visit to a remote military site in Michigan while drills were taking place. The five individuals were students at the University of Michigan at the time and enrolled in a joint program between the university and Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Representative Riley Moore, a Republican from West Virginia, said in a statement to Newsweek: "Every year, we allow nearly 300,000 Chinese nationals to come to the U.S. on student visas. We've literally invited the CCP to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property, and threaten national security."
He added: "Congress needs to end China's exploitation of our student visa program. It's time we turn off the spigot and immediately ban all student visas going to Chinese nationals."
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