Worry among Chinese students as US announces plans to revoke some visas

Published on 29/05/2025 - 18:08 GMT+2

Chinese students studying successful nan US are scrambling to fig retired their futures aft Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced that some of them would person their visas revoked.

The US will statesman revoking nan visas of immoderate Chinese students, including those studying successful "critical fields" and "those pinch connections to nan Chinese Communist Party," according to nan announcement.

China is nan second-largest state of root for world students successful nan United States, down only India.

In nan 2023-2024 schoolhouse year, much than 270,000 world students were from China, making up astir a 4th of each overseas students successful nan US.

Rubio's announcement was a "new type of nan Chinese Exclusion Act," said Liqin, a Chinese student astatine Johns Hopkins University, who asked to beryllium identified only by his first name.

He was referring to a 19th period rule that prohibited Chinese nationals from immigrating to nan US and banned Chinese group already successful nan US from getting citizenship.

Point of tension

China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Mao Ning, called nan US determination unreasonable astatine a property convention connected Thursday.

"Such a politicised and discriminatory action lays bare nan US dishonesty that it upholds alleged state and openness," she said, adding that Beijing had lodged a protestation pinch Washington.

The rumor of Chinese students studying overseas has agelong been a constituent of hostility successful nan bilateral relationship.

In 2019, during Trump's first term, China's Ministry of Education warned students astir visa issues successful nan US, pinch rising rejection rates and shortening of visas.

Last year, nan Chinese Foreign Ministry protested that a number of Chinese students were unfairly interrogated and sent location upon presence astatine US airports.

Chinese authorities media has agelong hyped weapon unit successful nan US and convulsive protests during nan coronavirus pandemic, and portrayed nan US arsenic a vulnerable spot that wasn’t safe for its citizens.

The tense bilateral narration has besides meant that some Chinese students are opting to study successful nan UK aliases different countries complete nan US.

The Hong Kong response

Hong Kong meantime is seeking to tie successful talent to nan metropolis pinch immoderate eager to capitalise connected nan uncertainty facing world students successful nan US.

Hong Kong's Chief Executive John Lee told lawmakers connected Thursday that nan metropolis would invited immoderate students who person been discriminated against by American policies to study successful nan city.

"The students who look unfair curen tin travel from different countries beyond nan US. I deliberation this is an opportunity for Hong Kong," he said.

"We will activity pinch our universities to supply nan champion support and assistance."

That followed a wide shared station by nan Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) inviting Harvard students to "continue their world pursuits" location aft Trump said he would revoke nan university's expertise to judge world students.

Other Hong Kong universities including nan Chinese University of Hong Kong and City University of Hong Kong besides said they would streamline aliases facilitate applications from world students coming from apical universities successful nan US.

Hong Kong, a erstwhile British colony that returned to China successful 1997, is simply a celebrated destination for mainland Chinese students to prosecute their assemblage degrees because of its world image and comparative freedoms.

The metropolis launched a caller visa strategy successful 2022 to antagonistic nan exodus of expatriates and section professionals that occurred aft Beijing imposed a nationalist information rule to quell dissent and during nan COVID-19 pandemic.