The enemy at home

You haven't asked yourself if it is happening in your country.

For years, Harvard has hosted senior officials of the Chinese Communist Party in its programs, but now US officials have raised alarm bells, warning of risks to national security and the increase in foreign influence on US soil.

For decades, Harvard University trained Chinese officials and sometimes even their family members, according to a recent Wall Street Journal report. Its alumni include a former vice president of the party, a former vice prime minister and most recently the daughter of Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Some US lawmakers claim that the Chinese Communist Party uses American universities to acquire knowledge and skills that would later be used against the United States and its interests.

Among some Harvard alumni we have Li Yuanchao - former vice president of the Communist Party, Liu He - former vice prime minister and trade negotiator and Li Hongzhong - current member of the politburo and high-level legislator. In the early 2000s Harvard launched a short-term program called China's Leaders in Development that included training split between Harvard and Singua University in Beijing.

Harvard indicated that the purpose of the program was, quote, “to help prepare China's central and local government officials to more effectively meet the ongoing challenges of national reforms.” On Wednesday, the State Department announced that it is tightening the process for reviewing visas from China and will aggressively revoke the visas of Chinese students, including those with ties to the Communist Party or studying in strategic areas.

Now with Trump's policy, "The State Department is determined to protect Americans' right to freedom of expression and to counter the influence and evil actions of the Chinese Communist Party, in short, we are using and will continue to use all the tools at our disposal to know who wants to enter the country and whether they should be authorized to do so." Tammy Bruce, spokesperson for the State Department.

The department did not reveal details about the criteria the Trump administration will use to make those decisions. On May 22, the Trump administration announced that it will revoke Harvard's authorization to enroll foreign students, alleging that the university collaborates with the Communist Party. Harvard was given 30 days to appeal the measure and has since filed a lawsuit in response.

Harvard is not the only university that trained leaders of the Communist Party, other institutions such as Stanford, Syracuse, Rutgers and the University of Maryland also offered programs for officials of the Chinese regime.