On Friday (May 30th), at the Harvard University graduation ceremony, Luanna Jiang, a graduate student from China, delivered a speech on the theme of “common humanity,” emphasizing cross-cultural understanding and connection. However, her choice of words overlapped with those of the Chinese Communist Party’s diplomatic rhetoric, sparking questions and criticisms from commentators.
In her speech, Luanna Jiang pointed out that today’s society tends to label those with different thoughts, voting choices, and beliefs as evil. She urged people to rediscover each other’s common humanity.
She further stated that she studied international development at Harvard, with the aim being based on the vision of “shared destiny of humankind.”
Although this kind of vocabulary did not mention any specific country or political system, critics pointed out that these terms bear a high resemblance to the long-promoted “community of shared future for mankind” by the Chinese Communist Party.
In March 2013, Xi Jinping first introduced the concept of a “community of shared future for mankind” in Moscow, Russia, which has been widely used in the Party’s internal and external propaganda in recent years. In October 2017, “building a community of shared future for mankind” was even incorporated into the Chinese Communist Party’s party constitution.
Subsequently, Chinese officials have repeatedly reiterated this concept in important speeches at the United Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), the World Economic Forum, making it a core diplomatic term for the CCP.
Cultural scholar Wu Zuolai stated on social platform X that Luanna Jiang’s speech “conceals key terms related to the CCP.”
He pointed out that apart from “shared destiny of humankind,” Jiang even mentioned phrases such as “our rise does not harm you,” which closely resemble common rhetoric seen in recent Chinese Communist propaganda.
Wu Zuolai believes that Luanna Jiang’s performance on stage exhibited trained body language and tone techniques akin to that of a “diplomatic spokesperson,” with a refined discourse characteristic of a “new Protestant Marxist,” exporting the ideology of the CCP.
Renowned China expert Gordon Chang criticized Harvard University itself.
In a post on platform X, he mentioned, “Harvard is a great institution, but if it continues to allow itself to be used by those intent on destroying America, we may have to end its existence.”
In her speech and interviews, Luanna Jiang said, “The promises of this interconnected world are being eroded by division, fear, and conflicts,” and “Do not forget those we label as enemies, they are also human beings.” These remarks seemed to target the recent conservative policies of the Trump administration. However, in her speech, she completely omitted any mention of the Chinese authorities’ scrutiny and control over academic freedom, cross-border exchanges, or visa regulations, creating a significant disparity.
In fact, while Luanna Jiang’s speech stirred controversy, Harvard University itself was in the center of a storm of scrutiny by the US government. President Trump pointed out that Harvard and other top US universities have long been infiltrated by “woke” culture and even become hotbeds of anti-Semitism. He further criticized these universities for their close ties with the CCP, becoming channels for foreign forces to infiltrate the US higher education system.
According to Chinese media outlet “The Paper,” during Luanna Jiang’s application to Harvard, she received a recommendation from Zhou Jinfeng, the vice chairman of the China Biodiversity Conservation and Green Development Foundation.
Public information shows that Zhou Jinfeng not only serves in a senior position in the foundation but is also the co-director of the Institute of Ecological Civilization Studies at Peking University’s “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era” research institute, with close ties to the official academic system.
Luanna Jiang herself has been a long-term volunteer in the international department of the foundation, while her father, Jiang Zhiming, serves as the executive director of the foundation’s special fund. This relationship has also sparked discussions about whether her admission to Harvard involved special resources and political background.