26 Sept 2026
Debating whether 100,000 US students going to China is a good thing
Former British MP Mark Logan has dismissed fears that China’s offer to host 100,000 American students risks communist indoctrination, arguing instead that the United States should worry more about its own lack of understanding of China.
https://youtu.be/fX4PDiETj3I?si=MipUTRk-ETzV8n2w
The comments came during a GB News debate hosted by Bev Turner following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s announcement during a major state visit with President Donald Trump. Xi proposed welcoming large numbers of US students to study in China. The plan quickly sparked concerns that Beijing could use the programme to recruit “useful idiots” or embed communist values in young Americans.
Chad Caton, founder of Operation Free Nation and a member of the Veterans for Trump coalition, voiced strong scepticism. Caton said the United States already had enough domestic left-wing and Marxist influences, citing groups such as the Democratic Socialists of America and Antifa. He argued there was no need to send students for what he called a “professional course” in China. Caton pointed to past cases of Chinese spies operating close to American politicians and said he would not allow his own children to take part. He described China as a surveillance state engaged in an ideological struggle that constantly undermines the United States, adding that even a short stay could leave students vulnerable to propaganda.
Logan rejected that framing as “a bit silly.” He said Americans, coming from a nation with deep pride in its Constitution and democratic history, had little to fear from a semester or year studying in China. The real risk, Logan argued, lay in the reverse direction. He noted that Chinese student numbers in the United States once peaked near 380,000 and that millions of Chinese have studied or lived in America since the country opened up. By contrast, fewer than 2,000 American students are currently studying Chinese in China. That asymmetry in mutual understanding, Logan said, is what should concern policymakers.
Logan, a former Conservative MP and vice-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary China Group who has lived, worked and studied in China, stressed that Chinese elites already know the American system thoroughly - Xi’s own daughter attended Harvard - while knowledge of China remains limited in Washington and London. He said the United States and China are now peers who stand “toe-to-toe,” and that greater Western exposure to China is essential.
The debate also touched on the tone of the Trump-Xi summit itself, including the unusual deference shown by the American president. Both speakers agreed the two powers must manage a complex relationship carefully, but they remained sharply divided on whether large-scale student exchanges would strengthen or weaken the United States.