By now, many intercessors are likely familiar with Confucius Institutes, dangerous programs bringing Chinese propaganda into American classrooms. Now, however, there’s a new threat that needs to be countered in prayer.
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From The Epoch Times:
CSSAs, or Chinese Students and Scholars Associations, are found across American campuses and act as a ready lever for Beijing to virtually hold Chinese students hostage, say activists, former club leaders, and experts.
By weaponizing students, they said, the Chinese regime gains a foothold in U.S. academia, stifles alternative voices, amplifies its own, and perpetuates a climate of fear.
The Trump administration has been simultaneously pushing back against the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) influence operations on American soil, while also wanting to keep Chinese student numbers high. Those dual goals make it imperative to curb the CSSAs’ coercive tactics and sever its ties to the Party, China watchers say.
CSSA may pose as a social hub, but it gathers Chinese students and stops them from shaking free of CCP control, according to Topjor Tsultrim, communications director for Students for a Free Tibet and law student at Columbia Law School. Tsultrim says students are “constantly surrounded” by other Chinese students, bringing about a sense of “groupthink” where members are “increasingly pressured to toe the party line.”
According to Tsultrim, the American education system should ideally help Chinese students “deconstruct the propaganda they’ve been force-fed their entire lives.” The CSSA, however, exists to impede that process.
The CSSA began in the late twentieth century. As more and more Chinese students attended universities in America, regime officials founded the group to “keep tabs on students and keep them in check with the Party,” according to the Times. The group reportedly offers parties, events, comfort, and social services to Chinese students, but only those who embrace the CCP’s values.
According to The Epoch Times, our leaders have begun to push back on these dangerous groups. The Trump administration has reportedly sent students associated with the CSSA back to China, and the State Department in August of 2025 moves to tights student visa durations, proposing a four-year limit on visas. Additionally, the Times notes that the CSSA has caught the attention of the House Select Committee on the CCP.
As our leaders push back on CCP influence in the United States, let’s pray. Let’s pray for wisdom for the Trump administration and our elected officials, and let’s pray for freedom to spread across China and Chinese students studying in America!
How are you praying about the CSSA? Share your prayers and scriptures below.
(Excerpt from The Epoch Times. Photo Credit: Dong Fang – http://www.voachinese.com/content/ccp-congress-reps-proposals-measure-20121111/1543623.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22649337)
