Spanish
USA.- The US government's promise to revoke visas keeps Chinese students who pay tens of thousands of dollars in tuition in a state of uncertainty.
For the moment, it is unknown how many Chinese students will be affected by the measure, considering that the 277,398 enrolled last year represented 24.6% of the 1.12 million international students in the U.S.
Linqin, a Chinese student at Johns Hopkins University who asked to be identified only by his first name for fear of retaliation, described it as “a new version of the Chinese Exclusion Act”, referring to a 19th-century law that prohibited Chinese people from immigrating to the United States and prevented them from obtaining citizenship. On Wednesday, he said that he was thinking for the first time about leaving the United States after spending a third of his life there. Zou Renge, 27, who is studying for a master's degree in public policy at the University of Chicago, said that she had planned to take time off and work in humanitarian aid programs abroad after graduating later this year. But now, she will refrain from leaving the United States and will look for jobs in the meantime. "In a very uncertain environment, I will do the best I can to find a solution for myself," she said.It is recalled that the administration of Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that it will eliminate permits for Chinese students, who are one of the largest sources of income for American universities, in its latest attack against higher education in the United States. In a brief statement entitled "New Visa Policies Put the U.S. First, Not China", Rubio indicated that the Department of State and the Department of Homeland Security will collaborate to "aggressively revoke" the visas of Chinese students.
The United States will also review visa criteria to tighten controls on all future applications from China and Hong Kong, said Rubio.
Rubio's statements, which did not clarify when the measure will begin to be applied, occur in a context of generalized restrictions on international students in the US, which ordered its consulates not to schedule appointments to process student visas.
China's Reaction
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning called this decision “irrational.” “The United States has irrationally revoked the visas of Chinese students under the pretext of ideology and [protection of] national rights,” she stated at a press conference.
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“This political and discriminatory practice by the United States has exposed the lies of the supposed freedom and openness that the United States has always promoted, and has further damaged its own international image, national image, and credibility,” said the spokesperson.
It is recalled that since the first group of Chinese students that the People's Republic of China sent to study in the U.S. in 1979, the North American country has been one of the most prestigious destinations for students from the Asian giant.
