'White House job' just an expensive US trip
Reports claiming mainland students could find themselves working alongside the US president turned out to be little more than a free advertisement for a 200,000-yuan (HK$236,607), four-week tour that may or may not involve a visit to the White House.
The Chongqing Morning Post reported that mainland students would have a chance to apply for summer internships at the White House for the first time in history under a 'leadership programme' run by a company called the US Harvest Centre.
People.com.cn, the official website of People's Daily, was among those that picked up the story, with some reports going on to claim students would be working alongside the US president for a month.
Barry Lu, an adviser at US Harvest Centre, which is believed to be based in California, blamed local media reporting for the misunderstanding.
He declined to divulge the total fee for the four-week internship, but said it would be very expensive, 'definitely no more than 200,000 yuan'.
'According to the schedule, the students will stay in Washington DC for only two weeks for some training and a course about government, management and policymaking, and they will have a chance to meet some political leaders and business elite.'
However, Lu said: 'It cannot be assured that students can visit the White House.'
According to a Harvest Centre website, applicants are required to demonstrate 'independent living skills, a cheerful personality and lively spirit' and 'possess courage to challenge other people's ideas and defend his or her opinion, articulate social skills and convey leadership'. No costs are mentioned.
A second round of screening was said to involve a phone interview and an essay of about 1,500 words. Lu said: 'Some parents called and did not care about the money. Chinese people have special interest in good things, and a chance to intern at the core institutes of the centre of the world will be definitely very attractive to many Chinese parents.'
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'White House internship' was really just a scam
The Washington trip was to cost, in thousands of yuan: 200,000 yuan
