Latitudes: China Initiative 2.0

Some senators want to bring back the inquiry into academic ties to China. Plus, study abroad’s visa problem. ADVERTISEMENT [Latitudes Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. New legislation would restart the China Initiative Several Republican senators want to revive the China Initiative, while a second professor has been found guilty of fraud and of hiding his ties to China from federal grantmaking agencies. A half-dozen GOP lawmakers have introduced [legislation]( to re-establish the controversial investigation of academic and economic espionage, which the U.S. Department of Justice [shuttered]( in February. In a written statement, Sen. Rick Scott, a Florida Republican and the bill’s main sponsor, said it was needed to protect “the United States’ intellectual property and our academic institutions from spying and interference by one of our greatest adversaries.” The measure focuses on higher education and what the sponsors see as the vulnerability of academic collaboration with China. It calls for the development of an enforcement strategy to deal with the potential theft of research and technology from labs and universities. Another aim of the reconstituted China Initiative would be to “educate colleges and universities about potential threats to academic freedom and open discourse from influence efforts on campus” by the Chinese government. Under the legislation, a new investigation would run for six years. A China Initiative 2.0 will face opposition from civil-rights groups, science and academic organizations, and others who argue that the original inquiry, begun in 2018 under the Trump administration, amounted to racial profiling and had a chilling effect on international research collaboration. Critics also note that few cases have actually involved [allegations of espionage](. Instead, charges have focused on research-disclosure failures, false statements, and tax fraud. Feng Tao, an associate professor of chemistry at the University of Kansas, was convicted last week, after a two-week trial, of failing to disclose his work with a Chinese university on conflict-of-interest forms when applying for U.S. government grants. Prosecutors argued that Tao, who goes by Franklin, was essentially defrauding the government by [omitting his ties to China](. Tao is the second academic to be [f]( guilty]( in a China Initiative case. But his lawyer said he hoped the conviction would not stand, and the trial judge has ordered a briefing on the charges, saying she saw “significant issues.” “We’re very disappointed with the verdict, but we think that the evidence at the trial certainly and even the theory of the case doesn’t support the charges, and we’re hopeful he’ll ultimately be vindicated,” the lawyer, Peter Zeidenberg, told [NPR](. In related news: - The U.S. Department of Justice has dropped its investigation of a Yale University professor of cell biology. Haifan Lin is back at work, but the Yale Daily News [reports]( that faculty members remain concerned about the university’s decision to suspend him during the inquiry, believed to be related to the China Initiative. - Sen. Marco Rubio, a co-sponsor of the bill to revive the China Initiative, plans additional legislation to limit academic collaboration with China. The Florida Republican said he would introduce a measure to prohibit joint research that could benefit the Chinese military or state security. “We can no longer pursue scientific collaboration with institutions in China. Because if we do, it is all but guaranteed that any promising research or emerging technology that can have military applications will wind up in the hands of the Chinese military,” Rubio said in a [speech]( in Washington. - Texas A&M University abruptly shut down a climate-science laboratory after its ties to a Chinese university were deemed a security risk, my colleague Francie Diep [reports](. ADVERTISEMENT A visa backlog threatens to disrupt study abroad As interest in study abroad returns, American students are running into a problem: getting visas. In particular, a visa-processing backlog for one of the most popular destination countries, Spain, is leading to concerns that study-abroad programs could be delayed or disrupted. Melissa Torres, president of the Forum on Education Abroad, said colleges and study-abroad providers had reported “extreme” delays in getting Spanish visas. Some students have had to start their studies weeks into the semester because of visa holdups, while one provider almost canceled its program when participants didn’t get visas until the last minute, international-education groups said. Already, some students have opted to study elsewhere. Torres said she was worried about the impact of the backlog on the fall semester, when education-abroad numbers are expected to rebound to pre-pandemic levels. Before the Covid-19 outbreak, nearly 34,000 American students studied in Spain annually. The Forum, along with NAFSA: Association of International Educators and the Association of North American University Programs in Spain, has been working with the Spanish Embassy in Washington to try to ease wait times and provide more consistency among the different consulates in the United States. Among the solutions they have proposed is to allow colleges and programs to submit visa applications in batches, rather than have students apply individually. That approach could speed processing and allow study-abroad advisers to screen for errors before paperwork is filed. In a written statement, the Spanish Embassy said resolving the student-visa delays was a “top priority.” “We regret the backlogs that some consulates are experiencing during this pandemic, which is unfortunately also happening in other countries,” the statement said. “We are in constant communication with several U.S. study-abroad associations and universities to hear their concerns and update them on the steps we are taking to address these delays. Spain is the first destination that U.S. students choose to study abroad, which makes us very proud and encourages us to offer the best attention possible.” SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to essential news, analysis, and advice. International students, by the numbers Twenty percent of all international students attended just 20 colleges in 2021, according to [newly released student-visa data]( from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Four institutions — Northeastern, Columbia, and New York Universities and the University of Southern California — had more than 15,000 foreign students apiece. By contrast, two-thirds of colleges and schools enrolled fewer than 50 international students. (The data include elementary and secondary students and schools, although nine out of 10 visa holders are in higher ed.) The annual report details student-visa trends for the 2021 calendar year — a misalignment with enrollment cycles that could be more pronounced for last year because [new visa issuances]( didn’t really pick up steam until the fall semester. Still, it is a window on international students and the institutions that host them. Here are a few more data points that caught my eye: The post-Covid enrollment rebound is uneven. There were 25,000 more students from India in 2021 than in 2020, while the number of Chinese students declined by nearly 34,000 from a year earlier. Over all, the number of active student-visa records fell 1.2 percent in 2021. Again, it’s worth noting that consulates in China, closed at the start of the pandemic, didn’t begin to reopen until the late spring of 2021. The number of students working shrank. The number of international students taking part in Optional Practical Training, the popular postgraduate work program, decreased by 13 percent. While the pandemic may have played a part in that change, smaller incoming classes from abroad in recent years have also led to declines. What’s going on in the West? There was a 7.5-percent drop in students at schools and colleges in the Western states, while all other regions of the country saw modest increases. However, no state hosted more students than California. Some institutions had no students. Twenty percent of schools and colleges approved by the U.S. government to accept international students did not enroll any in 2021. The total number of institutions authorized to admit foreign students dropped by 331, to 8,038. SPONSOR CONTENT | VitalSource [Learning Science Proves Practice Does Make Perfect]( Around the globe Russian students have turned in teachers and professors for [anti]( speech]( under a new law that penalizes criticism of the invasion of Ukraine. Graduates of universities that top [global rankings]( will be able to qualify for a [new talent visa]( in Britain. Canada is pushing universities to improve research security to prevent technology from being funneled overseas, and a new federal budget [allocates]( funds for such efforts. A parliamentary committee in Australia investigating foreign interference on campuses has [recommended]( action for universities and the government, including closer scrutiny of student associations linked to authoritarian governments and new mechanisms to report incidents. The Middle East Studies Association has written to Prime Minister Naftali Bennet of Israel and other officials to [oppose]( a new policy that will give the Israeli military signoff authority over international scholars and researchers at Palestinian universities. Students in Sri Lanka have boycotted classes and joined [protests]( over the government’s handling of an economic crisis. The Social Science Research Council is ending its [International Dissertation Research Fellowship]( program. The University of Maryland will temporarily house [refugee and evacuee families]( from Afghanistan on its College Park campus in partnership with the International Rescue Committee. Rutgers University is organizing a [virtual conference]( on higher education’s response to refugee and displaced students and scholars. The Chronicle’s Race on Campus newsletter delves into why it’s so important to [pronounce students’ names correctly](. International students, I want to hear about what it meant when people at your college got your name right — or wrong. I’m at karin.fischer@chronicle.com. ADVERTISEMENT And finally … Last week I [shared]( how food, and the connections it forges to people and places, was one of the things I’ve missed the most since I’ve been grounded from international travel. It sounds as if I’m not alone from the many delectable notes that landed in my inbox. Julia L. Ellegood Pfaff, of INTO George Mason University, sent me a global menu of tasty food memories, including yassa and tia’bo jin cooked outside and served communally in Senegal and dark chocolate and crusty bread from her days as an exchange student in France. L. Amber Brugnoli, of West Virginia University, insisted she’d eaten some of the best Italian food at a restaurant in Okinawa, Japan, where she was a regular 15 years ago. “I remember every detail and really hope it’s still there so I can take my children someday!” she wrote. And Nareg Seferian, a doctoral candidate at Virginia Tech, recalled a meal that was more unforgettable than delicious from his time as a master’s student in Germany: “I accidentally ordered liver at a restaurant. I hate liver,” he wrote. “But I was too embarrassed to tell the waiter that it turns out I don’t know as much German as I thought.” Thanks for reading. I always welcome your feedback and ideas for future reporting, so drop me a line, at karin.fischer@chronicle.com. You can also connect with me on [Twitter]( or [LinkedIn](. If you like this newsletter, please share it with colleagues and friends. They can [sign up here](. 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