Chinese students say they are questioning their decision to study in the United States after Foreign Minister Marco Rubio announced that the federal government will try to “cancel” its visas strongly.
Rubio said on Wednesday that Chinese students “have contacts with the Communist Party of China or study in critical fields” will target.
Chinese students who spoke to NBC News said on Thursday that they came to the United States for their freedoms who felt that they did not return in China, but now they say that the Trump administration has begun to resemble the strict regime they left.
One of the Chinese doctorate said: “The United States of America means freedom. It means democracy … and for this reason we come here to chase our dreams.” A student at New Jersey University, who asked not to be identified for fear of revenge. “In China, the government can control education, secondary schools, colleges and universities. We thought the United States of America could be different.”
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs referred NBC news to the comments of the spokeswoman, Tami Bruce, during a press conference on Thursday, in which Bruce said that the administration does not discuss the details of the visa process due to privacy concerns.
“We use every tool that we must milk and make sure we know who will come,” Bruce said. “In this particular case, the United States places America first by starting to cancel the visas of Chinese students as required.”
The Chinese embassy NBC News referred to the comments made by MAO Ning, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, on this issue. Ning harshly criticized the Rubio Declaration on Thursday in a regular briefing in Beijing.
“This discriminatory step politically reveals the hypocrisy of the values of freedom and openness for a long time in America, and will only lead to more harm in the international image of the United States and credibility,” Ning said.
Questions revolve around the new guidance, including “critical fields” that the administration will consider and what are the types of communications to CCP are subject to scrutiny. But this really drives panic among many Chinese scientists, who are the second largest international student group in the United States
While the temporary barbaric matter worldwide issued last week prohibiting the Trump administration from reviving the legal status of international students amid the mass termination of the records, lawyers say it may not protect Chinese international students. Gaat Shaw, a lawyer for immigration in Cleveland, said that although the restriction matter prevents international students from arresting or arresting them, or from losing their legal status, they can still cancel their visas, said Gathao, a migration lawyer in Cleveland. Shao said that without a visa, students cannot return to the United States once they leave, among a group of other issues.
“If you are trying to get a job or study … this means that you are very lucky,” said Shao. “You are stuck here. They are mainly trying to take away all your options.”
Also, Kathleen Bush Joseph, a policy analyst in the United States immigration policy program at the Institute of Immigration Policy, a non -partisan research tank, also reported that the Trump administration can argue that Chinese students fall under a completely different circumstance compared to that protected by the initial.
“We see in various cases that the administration says it is making individual decisions,” said Bush Joseph. “Even if they focus on a certain nationality, in any specific case, they may say that this depends on a person’s circumstances.”
One of the Chinese students studying the economy at the IVY Legue Foundation said he felt the tactics used by the Trump administration, including harsh speech and intimidation, used by the Chinese government. The student said that it was not uncommon for Beijing Holding financing for some political researchJust as Trump threatened Harvard University, or used other repression methods.
“In China, we are all Chinese, so they cannot cancel our nationality, but they can cancel the student record,” he said. “This happens when it comes to people participating in political activities.”
“I think they are only using CCP to stimulate” red intimidation, “said the economist in referring to the historical fear periods in the United States about the rise of communism and potential socialism.” We continue to join that it seems that Trump is learning from the Book of Play in Xi Jinping. ”
The doctorate said that at this stage, he and his peers are studying either to return to China or another Asian country – a plan he said was not in books before. He stated that before he came to America, he depicted a country that welcomes diversity and included all the backgrounds and the place he was putting in the roots. His ideas about the United States have evolved greatly.
He said: “My family and my best friends, they had a phone call with me to say,” Hey, I think you may have to return. We believe that there is no reason for you to stay in the United States. ”
Jesella Perez Kusakawa, Executive Director of the Niotic Asian Researchers Forum, said the new policy will only harm the United States and its special research aspirations.
She said: “We know that many of the best and brightest talents are prominent scientists who have continued to develop many innovations that changed the lives of many Americans.” “They started as international students. They walked in these universities.”
It also indicated that politics is likely to be guided by wrong concepts about Chinese citizens. While there is a long belief that Chinese international students will be returning intelligence to China, research shows that most of them hope to start their lives in America. from 2005 to 2015, 87 % of the Chinese doctorate said that they intend to stay in the United States Separate Of more than 1,300 Chinese researchers found that 89 % “aims to help American leadership in science and technology.”
Regardless of Rubio’s announcement, Kusakawa confirmed that it is not necessarily surprising. In March, Republican lawmakers have submitted a draft law that would stop the issuance of student visas to Chinese citizens looking to study in American universities or participate in exchange programs.
“In many ways, there was already this current fear that this might become a reality.” “But it may be surprising is the speed that it happens.”
Until now, this announcement has surrendered collective criticism from many Chinese American legislators and leaders, including Gary Locke, a former ambassador to China and head of the American non -profit committee in China, and Asia Asia and the American Pacific.
The lawmakers said on social media: “The wholesale cancellation of student visas based on the national origin – without achieving – is foreigners and error.” “The removal of these students – many of whom want to simply learn in a free and democratic society – is not only the nearsightedness but betrayal of our values.”
