> does it matter? It matters if they return to China with their American education and: -engage in nation-state attacks on behalf of the PLA [1], or -build f

> does it matter? It matters if they return to China with their American education and: -engage in nation-state attacks on behalf of the PLA [1], or -build facial-recognition software to further repress the Uyghur community [2], or -contribute to the "social credit" system which makes it next-to-impossible for everyday Chinese to express anything other than unvarnished support of the ruling party [3], or -eavesdrop on advocates for democracy in Hong Kong [4], or -build advanced weapons systems that are then installed on newly-constructed islands in the South China Sea [5], or -conduct industrial espionage on behalf of Chinese companies with key government contacts or PLA-connected C-level execs [6], or -participate in advanced research projects like quantum satellites which could give China a persistent strategic advantage against the NSA [7], or -install facial recognition technology in primary-school and middle-school classrooms to enhance indoctrination methods at an earlier age [8], or -any other number of future scenarios we haven't even discussed. I'm not saying every overseas Chinese student fits this description. While living in Shanghai for almost 6 years, I encountered quite a few that were open to democratic ideals and skeptical of their government's propaganda. However, there is also a non-trivial amount of nationalism among everyday Chinese, and the CCP is capable of directing it against the US anytime it sees fit, through its monopoly of mainland media outlets (and increasingly, non-mainland ones as well) [9]. I don't pretend to have a solution to this problem. But I think it may be short-sighted to expect Chinese students to be wooed by the wonders of democracy after a short-term study-abroad program in a country whose democracy is flawed at best. ------------ Sources: [1] https://www.cbronline.com/what-is/what-is-pla-unit-61398-and-who-are-the-five-chinese-hackers-4271980/ https://www.cbronline.com/what-is/what-is-pla-unit-61398-and... [2] https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/apr/11/china-hi-tech-war-on-muslim-minority-xinjiang-uighurs-surveillance-face-recognition https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/apr/11/china-hi-tech-w... [3] https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-punishments-and-rewards-explained-2018-4/ https://www.businessinsider.com/china-social-credit-system-p... [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_China#Hong_Kong https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_surveillance_in_China#Hon... [5] https://futurism.com/the-byte/australia-chinese-lasers-military-pilots https://futurism.com/the-byte/australia-chinese-lasers-milit... [6] https://www.globaldots.com/chinese-spying-chips-found-hidden-on-servers-used-by-us-companies/ https://www.globaldots.com/chinese-spying-chips-found-hidden... [7] https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/06/china-s-quantum-satellite-achieves-spooky-action-record-distance https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2017/06/china-s-quantum-sate... [8] https://www.businessinsider.com/china-school-facial-recognition-technology-2018-5 https://www.businessinsider.com/china-school-facial-recognit... [9] https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-reports/speak-no-evil-mass-media-control-contemporary-china https://freedomhouse.org/report/special-reports/speak-no-evi...