Low-profile daughter of China’s president gains attention amid rising US-China tensions
Xi Mingze, the only daughter of Chinese President Xi Jinping, is back in the news amid heightened US-China friction — this time over student visa policies. As President Donald Trump pushes for stricter visa regulations, including cuts to Harvard University’s federal funding, Xi’s daughter has drawn fresh scrutiny over her reported presence in the United States.
Who is Xi Mingze?
Born on June 25, 1992, Xi Mingze is the daughter of Xi Jinping and famous Chinese folk singer Peng Liyuan. Despite being the child of one of the world’s most powerful leaders, she has remained largely out of the public eye, with very little official information available about her life.
Xi is reported to have studied at Harvard University, enrolling in 2010 under a pseudonym to preserve her anonymity. Some reports suggest she graduated in 2014 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology and English. However, other accounts, including one cited by Business Insider via the Taiwanese press, claim she continued her studies at Harvard beyond that period.
She has been described as “low-key and easy-going” by media outlets like WantChinaTimes, with hobbies that include reading and fashion. Reports from Taiwanese sources also claim that she is under round-the-clock protection from Chinese security personnel, allegedly with assistance from the FBI.
Why is she back in the spotlight?
The renewed attention stems from a move by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who announced this week that the US will begin aggressively revoking visas of Chinese students, particularly those tied to the Chinese Communist Party or enrolled in sensitive fields of study. The visa crackdown follows Trump’s recent efforts to penalize institutions like Harvard for non-compliance with his administration’s policies.
China has strongly pushed back against these actions. “The US has unreasonably cancelled Chinese students’ visas under the pretext of ideology and national rights,” said foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning. Beijing confirmed that it had lodged formal protests with Washington.
In this context, Xi Mingze’s suspected residence in Massachusetts has sparked public interest and debate, particularly on whether she could be affected by these new restrictions, though no official statements have been made about her immigration status or potential deportation.
Where is she now?
Rumors about Xi’s whereabouts have circulated for years. In 2022, former US Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler claimed Xi Mingze was living in the US while introducing the “Protecting Higher Education from the Chinese Communist Party Act.” Her statement was later echoed by a Chinese political commentator based in the US, who claimed in a YouTube video that Xi had returned to the US in 2019 after spending five years back in China.
The same commentator, according to ANI reports, said Xi was still living in the Cambridge area, possibly as a research student.
Earlier in her life, Xi reportedly studied French at Hangzhou Foreign Languages School before heading abroad for college.
Crackdown over online leaks
Xi Mingze’s private life has also drawn attention for a different reason — its connection to a harsh prison sentence. In 2019, a Chinese man named Niu Tengyu was detained and later sentenced to 14 years in prison for allegedly running websites that published personal information about Xi Mingze and other Chinese leaders. The incident is widely seen as part of Beijing’s efforts to clamp down on leaks involving senior officials’ families.
As US-China relations continue to sour, especially in the education and immigration space, Xi Mingze’s status is likely to remain under the microscope, despite her continued efforts to remain out of public view.
