Harvard speech by Chinese graduate exposes class disillusionment and education gap at home

Chinese are becoming increasingly aware that ‘many paths are simply out of reach for ordinary people’: anthropologist

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Yurong “Luanna” Jiang, (centre), who delivered a speech at her Harvard University commencement, is pictured with her college friends Helen Ji, left, and Cynthia Luo. Photo: AP

Published: 10:00pm, 5 Jun 2025Updated: 10:47pm, 5 Jun 2025

Controversy surrounding a speech given by a Chinese Harvard graduate reflects the Chinese public’s “disillusionment” with elite education and “anger at class rigidity”, according to a Chinese academic.

Last week, Yurong “Luanna” Jiang, a Chinese Harvard University graduate, delivered a controversial speech amid the ongoing clash between the university and the White House, and uncertainty over United States-China relations.

Jiang was the first Chinese woman selected as the student speaker at a Harvard graduation ceremony.

While her success was initially praised by the Chinese media, it soon drew criticism from social media users who questioned whether her “privileged” family background truly represented the broader Chinese student population.

As the controversy escalates, some academics and commentators have begun to examine how it reflects the Chinese public’s growing disillusionment with elite education.

Jiang addresses classmates at Harvard University on May 29. Photo: AP

Yuan Changgeng, an anthropologist at Yunnan University who has long studied changes in social attitudes, said that in recent years “China’s social classes have become increasingly rigid and tensions between them have been on the rise”.

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