President Xi Jinping appealed to China's youth on Tuesday to love the country and dedicate themselves to the Communist Party, warning on the centenary of student-led protests there was no place for those who ignored the country's needs.

The May 4 Movement of 1919 started out as anti-imperialist student protests against a decision at the Paris Peace Conference, after World War I, to award Japan control of German concessions in China's Shandong province.

It soon encompassed a broader debate about how China should modernize, having only just overthrown the emperor and ushered in a republic in 1911.

The issue of student protests is especially sensitive in China this year, which also marks three decades since the bloody suppression of pro-democracy protests on and around Beijing's Tiananmen Square on June 4.

Speaking to officials and youth delegates at the Great Hall of the People, Xi said China's young should be grateful to the party, the country, the society and the people.

"Tell every Chinese person that patriotism is one's duty, is an obligation," Xi said, in comments carried live on state television.

"For Chinese youth of the new era, ardently loving the motherland is the foundation of building the body and of talent," he added.

Xi also warned about the need for young people to be morally upstanding and avoid what he termed "mistaken thoughts."

"In the new era, Chinese youth should consciously establish and practice the core values of socialism, and be good at drawing morality from the traditional virtues of the Chinese people," he said.

"Consciously resist mistaken thoughts such as the worship of money, hedonism, extreme individualism, and historical nihilism," Xi added, referring to attempts to reevaluate core events and personalities of the party's revolutionary past.

Despite the optimism the May 4 Movement brought at the time, the period following it was marked by turmoil and civil war in China, which eventually lead to the overthrow of the Republican government which fled to Taiwan after the Communist revolution in 1949.

Xi said that China had to make achievements on the back of its own work, and not rely on anyone else.

"A bright China is not a gift that can be given by anybody," he said.

While May 4 remains widely discussed in China, June 4 is taboo in China and it will not be marked by any officially approved events.

Xi is expected to be outside the country in early June this year, on a state visit to Russia and Central Asia.

The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.

It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.

In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.

Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.

Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.

"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.

An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."

House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."

Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.

Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.

The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.

"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."

The Times of India breaks down the most popular subjects for international students to study in the U.S.

STEM and business lead the pack. Read the full story here. (January 2025)

U.S. News & World report addresses some of the misconceptions about U.S. colleges and universities, including the difficulty of getting a visa.

Read the full story here. (January 2025)

US News & World Report details the three top factors in foreign students' decision to study in the U.S. They include research opportunities and the reputation of U.S. degrees. Read the full story here. (December 2024)