WASHINGTON, D.C. – Reps. Rick Larsen (WA-02), Don Beyer (VA-08) and Judy Chu (CA-27) recently introduced the Restoring Fulbright Exchanges with China and Hong Kong Act. In 2020, President Trump signed an executive order to end Fulbright exchanges both to and from China and Hong Kong.

“Restoring Fulbright exchanges with China and Hong Kong will help the United States build its China expertise, strengthen people-to-people ties and give Chinese participants an opportunity to experience the real United States and the benefits of academic freedom,” said Larsen, a co-chair of the bipartisan U.S.-China Working Group and author of a China White Paper published in December 2021.

“The Trump Administration's decision to terminate Fulbright Programs with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) was ill-considered, self-defeating, and short-sighted," said Beyer. "The exchange of Fulbright scholars between the U.S. and P.R.C. built a critical channel for building expertise on China and countered the increasingly negative depiction of the United States delivered by the Chinese Communist Party. Our legislation would reverse President Trump’s executive order and rebuild this critical program.”

“Fulbright volunteers represent the United States abroad and forge connections with everyday people, even in countries where official relations are strained,” said Chu. “The decision by the Trump administration to end Fulbright exchanges with mainland China and Hong Kong was short-sighted and intended only to worsen U.S.-China diplomatic relations. The Restoring Fulbright Exchanges with China and Hong Kong Act will give Fulbright exchange students from across the United States the chance to return to China and Hong Kong again, helping to advance US interests diplomatically by improving communication and understanding between our countries.”

“I applaud Reps. Larsen, Beyer and Chu’s introduction of the Restoring Fulbright Exchanges with China and Hong Kong Act,” said Stephen A. Orlins, President, National Committee on U.S.-China Relations. “Until its abrupt termination in 2020, these Fulbright programs had for forty years provided many future American leaders in government, journalism, and academia with critical insights into Chinese politics and society. Restoring Fulbright China makes the United States a stronger and more secure nation.”

The Fulbright Foreign Student Program enables graduate students, young professionals, and artists from the United States and abroad to research and study abroad and in the United States for one year or longer at universities or other appropriate institutions. For more information on the Fulbright Foreign Student Program, click here.

Larsen has been a leading voice for economic and strategic engagement in the Asia-Pacific region and a proponent of advancing U.S. democratic values worldwide. Last year, Larsen outlined a comprehensive strategy to boost U.S. competitiveness and enhance American global leadership, including identifying areas where bilateral cooperation between the U.S. and China is in both nations’ interest. To read Larsen’s White Paper, click here.

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