Last week during his arrival at the White House, Chinese President Xi Jinping invited 100,000 American students to study in China over the next five years. This isn’t Xi’s first invitation to American students. In November 2023 on a visit to San Francisco, he invited 50,000 students. While this invitation sounds like an opportunity for American students to visit and understand our nation’s greatest geopolitical competitor, American students, universities, and school districts should consider the risks before accepting. 

American students face real risks to their safety. Earlier this month, the State Department issued a warning for Americans to “exercise increased caution” while visiting due to “the arbitrary enforcement of local laws, the use of exit bans without a fair and transparent process under the law, and the risk of unjust arrest or detention.” The warning continued, “Expansive national security, counterespionage, and data security laws grant Chinese officials broad discretion to detain or interrogate foreign nationals.”