The number of mainland students granted visas to study in the US has dropped dramatically over the last year because of fears that they would stay on, an education conference in Beijing has heard.
The US has tightened screening of foreign students since last year's terrorist attacks, but participants in last week's Sino-US Educational Co-operation Conference, including academics and students, charge that the US is deliberately limiting the numbers given student visas to avoid an influx of would-be immigrants.
Many mainland students had had their hopes of studying in the US dashed because of visa problems, they claimed.
The US issued 16,651 visas to mainland students between last October and August, a reduction of about 10.6 per cent from the 18,637 approved in the same period the year before.
A spokeswoman for the US embassy in Beijing said the drop was consistent with a worldwide trend since September 11 last year. But she added that applicants' abilities to prove they had no intention to emigrate to the US upon finishing their studies was also important.
One disgruntled participant at one of the conference seminars suggested mainland students would be better off going to other countries despite the fact they had 'already contributed much to the US economy in the past as foreign students'.
Mainland graduates are furious there are no clear criteria on what it takes to make a successful application.
