China’s Ministry of Education on Monday issued a warning to students hoping to study abroad in the United States as they face a growing number of refusals and limitations on their student visas.
Xu Yongji, the ministry’s deputy director of international cooperation and communication, said that the U.S. had denied visas to 13.5 per cent of Chinese students applying to study there between January and March.
The figure is up from a 3.2-per-cent rejection rate from 2017 to 2018, he said.
“These acts have already hurt the dignity of Chinese students studying in the United States, and have seriously hurt the feelings of the Chinese people,’’ Xu said.
“The behaviour of the United States is causing a cold snap to Sino-U.S. exchanges and cooperation.’’
Xu noted that Chinese students nevertheless accounted for a third of all international students in the U.S. and had brought in 13 billion dollars in 2017.
The large presence of Chinese students on university campuses in the U.S., Australia and New Zealand has raised concerns in recent months.
Concerns that they could be conduits for Beijing’s influence whether as a means to acquire cutting-edge research or to stifle debate on sensitive topics like Tibet and Taiwan.
The debate has intensified under the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, who began a trade war with China in July 2018.
In April, U.S. FBI Director Christopher Wray said the U.S. visa system for students and academics was being “abused and exploited’’ by Chinese researchers and academics. (dpa/NAN)
