China’s growing involvement in American education is drawing fresh scrutiny after a new report detailed a Chinese government-funded program that has brought thousands of U.S. students to China for educational exchanges.
The report from Defending Education focuses on the “Young Envoys Scholarship,” or YES, an initiative connected to Chinese President Xi Jinping’s pledge to bring 50,000 young Americans to China for exchanges and study. The organization argues that the program should be examined as part of Beijing’s broader effort to influence how Americans, particularly students, understand China.
The report arrives alongside other concerns about Chinese Communist Party influence in the United States, including a recent House Select Committee on China investigation into alleged CCP influence at Harvard University.
American universities have dealt with similar questions before. Confucius Institutes, Chinese-backed educational programs that once operated widely on U.S. campuses, became the subject of federal scrutiny over concerns involving propaganda, academic freedom and Chinese government influence. Many subsequently closed or were reorganized.
Xi, however, has continued calling for closer educational connections between young Americans and Chinese institutions.
In a June 2024 letter to the president of Kean University, Xi urged universities in both countries to “cultivate young envoys who know both countries well.”
That terminology is significant to critics of the program because Beijing has explicitly incorporated people-to-people exchanges into its diplomatic strategy. China has also promoted what it calls a “community with a shared future for mankind,” a concept Chinese officials have presented as part of the country’s approach to international affairs.
Critics contend that the exchanges cannot be separated from the CCP’s ideological objectives.
They point to Chinese government documents describing Western concepts of universal values critically while promoting values rooted in Chinese civilization. An internal CCP document circulated in 2013, commonly known as Document No. 9, also warned party officials against ideas including Western constitutional democracy, “universal values” and Western concepts of civil society inside China.
Then came Xi’s November 2023 announcement.
Speaking in San Francisco, the Chinese leader announced that China was prepared to invite 50,000 young Americans to participate in exchange and study programs over the following five years.
The Young Envoys Scholarship became one mechanism for pursuing that goal. Under participating programs, expenses can be covered for American students traveling to China and visiting Chinese universities and other institutions.
The numbers grew quickly. China’s ambassador to the United States said in December 2024 that approximately 14,000 American teenagers had already visited China under the initiative during its first year.
