Washington: Right-wing activist Laura Loomer has threatened to confront Chinese President Xi Jinping’s daughter, who is reportedly residing in Massachusetts under the protection of guards allegedly linked to China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA). “Communists don’t belong in our country. I think I’m going to confront her on video and ask her about her father,” Loomer said, amid fresh visa restrictions on Chinese students announced by the United States government.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio declared on Wednesday that the US will start revoking the visas of Chinese students, especially those affiliated with the Chinese Communist Party or enrolled in sensitive academic programmes. He further said that the visa framework for students from China and Hong Kong would be revised and subjected to stricter evaluation going forward.
Mingze’s academic journey
Xi Jinping’s only daughter, Xi Mingze, has maintained a low public profile throughout her life. She studied at Hangzhou Foreign Language School between 2006 and 2008, briefly attended Zhejiang University, and later enrolled at Harvard University in 2010 under an assumed name. She earned her undergraduate degree in psychology in 2014 and reportedly returned to China. However, unconfirmed reports have surfaced claiming that she may have resumed her studies at Harvard in 2019 for a graduate programme.
Analysts view Xi Mingze’s discreet public presence as a deliberate move by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) to shield her from global attention. In a controversial case in 2019, Chinese technician Niu Tengyu received a 14-year prison sentence for allegedly leaking Xi Mingze’s identification details on the website esu.wiki—though activists have argued that he was wrongly accused. In 2022, US Representative Vicky Hartzler stated that Xi Mingze was living in the United States, but this claim remains unverified, and little is publicly known about her current residence or personal life.
China slams US move
The Chinese government has strongly criticised the US policy shift. “The US decision to revoke Chinese student visas is fully unjustified. It uses ideology and national security as pretext,” said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning during a press briefing on Thursday. “It seriously hurts the lawful rights and interests of international students from China and disrupts people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.” She added, “China firmly opposes it and has protested to the US over the decision.”
