Don’t Close the Door on Chinese Talent. Ending Visas Will Hurt America More than It Hurts China

Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s announcement last week that the Trump administration will “aggressively revoke” visas of Chinese students in the U.S. is the diplomatic equivalent of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

In the last 25 years, more than 50,000 Chinese visa-holders who earned doctorates at American universities in science, technology, engineering and math have remained in the U.S. after graduation, according to the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University. That brain drain from China has dramatically benefited our nation, with Chinese graduate students leading cutting-edge research in nanotechnology and batteries for next-generation drones, and creating startups collectively valued at $100 billion, according to the National Foundation of American Policy, a nonprofit research group focused on immigration.

Evicting talent like this from the United States would severely undermine America’s global edge in scientific research, particularly at a time when the Chinese Communist Party is focusing on a major push at home to promote world-leading innovation in artificial intelligence, drones and electric vehicles.