China Furious Over US Revoking Chinese Students’ Visas

Beijing criticized the US’ plan to “unreasonably” revoke visas for Chinese students and announced it had formally complained to Washington about the move, adding to already high tensions between the US and China over tariffs and other issues, Channel News Asia reported. 

“The US has unreasonably cancelled Chinese students’ visas under the pretext of ideology and national rights,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said, urging the US to be more constructive in building stable bilateral relations. 

On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the US will begin “aggressively” revoking the visas of Chinese students, including those with ties to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields, Reuters noted. He did not specify what fields would be targeted. 

Rubio also added that the State Department will revise the criteria for the approval of all future visa applications from China and Hong Kong. 

The State Department’s focus on Chinese students reflects how worsening geopolitical tensions between the US and China “have poisoned” the two nations’ long-standing educational ties, Politico wrote. 

Because of the highly competitive university system in China, many students in recent decades have opted to study in the US, becoming the second largest group of foreign students in the country after India. About 277,000 Chinese students studied in the US last year.  

The move to block Chinese students from enrolling in US colleges is the latest development in the Trump administration’s standoff with academia. Last week, the administration revoked Harvard University’s ability to enroll foreign students, citing the college’s alleged failure to address antisemitism and alleged ties with the Chinese Communist Party. 

That move has been temporarily blocked by a judge.