Former Google CEO and Clinton lackey Eric Schmidt argued recently that Chinese students provide a vital benefit to the United States’ National Security interests. The Chinese government has come under scrutiny over the past year for using Chinese researchers at American universities to steal taxpayer-funded research.
According to a report by Defense One, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt is defending the role that Chinese researchers play in the United States despite national security concerns from lawmakers.
Breitbart News reported at the end of May that President Donald Trump would block some Chinese scientists from working in American laboratories. “I have determined that the entry of certain nationals of the [Chinese government] seeking to enter the United States pursuant to an F or J visa to study or conduct research in the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States,” Trump wrote in a May 29 statement.
In response to Trump’s statement, Schmidt argued that Chinese researchers are responsible for the development of much of the technology used by the United States military.
Remember that, in America, the military does not build very much. Not only do you have to have military capability but the contractors also have to get this talent and most of them don’t have it, to be honest. One of the things that we looked at was the role of Chinese students in American research. And for those of you who are shocked by this, I’m sorry but I’ll tell you the truth, that many of the top graduate students are foreign-born and typically Chinese. That’s partly because the really, really smart Chinese researchers would prefer to be here. They love America! And they love the freedoms…they want academic freedom.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo explained in June that Trump’s restriction will only apply to researchers that have connections with specific Chinese institutions that are working to undermine American higher education.
“The graduate students and researchers who are targeted, co-opted, and exploited by the [Chinese] government for its military gain represent a small subset of Chinese student and researcher visa applicants coming to the United States,” Pompeo said.
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