China warns students of security risks in US after ‘interrogations’ at LA airport
- Los Angeles consulate says border agents repeatedly questioned Chinese students over their study plans, academic record and previous employers
- Some arrivals were threatened and eventually denied entry to the US, consulate says
“The consulate general in Los Angeles reminds students studying abroad to raise their security awareness, pay attention to the risks they may encounter when entering or leaving the country, take precautions and respond properly,” the consulate said in a statement on Friday.
According to the consulate, a number of Chinese students were questioned repeatedly by border agents at Los Angeles International Airport about the purpose of their study in the United States, their past academic performance, their previous employers, their disciplinary records, and whether they had “plagiarised” laboratory data.
Some were threatened, intimidated and even had their freedom restricted for hours, and eventually refused entry and repatriated to China, it said.
In some cases, Chinese students were interrogated by US law enforcement officials and had their personal electronic devices confiscated when they left the country, the statement said.
The consulate said it had made “solemn representations” to the US side, urging it to “correct its mistake and stop using various excuses to impose unwarranted restrictions on Chinese students”.
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Some Chinese researchers have been prosecuted over the past two years on charges of stealing trade secrets, not declaring military affiliations on visa applications and using US funds to develop technological expertise in China.
According to data from US Customs and Border Protection, searches of Chinese nationals’ laptops, smartphones and other electronic devices at the US border increased by two-thirds in 2019 and remained high in 2020, despite a sharp drop in international travel because of the pandemic.
Visas are also a major source of tension between the two countries.
In July, more than 500 Chines students of science, technology, engineering, and maths majors complained to the Chinese embassy in the US that their visas had been rejected.
In a meeting with US deputy secretary of state Wendy Sherman in Tianjin in July, Chinese officials urged Washington to remove visa restrictions on Chinese students, along with restrictions on other Chinese nationals such as members of China’s Communist Party.
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In an interview with Chinese magazine Caijing last week, David Meale, chargé d’affaires of the US embassy in Beijing, said both sides hoped to expand people-to-people exchange to improve relations, but it might take time to see some results partly because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The US has issued more than 85,000 visas to Chinese students since May and half of them were to STEM majors.
Since August 1, Chinese students, the biggest group among international students in the US, have been allowed to return to the United States to study without quarantine.
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The student was confined to a “small space” during the questioning without food and eventually deported to a third country based on “groundless accusations”, the embassy said in a statement 10 days ago.
The consulate said Chinese students to the US had played an active role in promoting mutual understanding and friendship between the two countries, and China-US educational and cultural cooperation was in the interests of both sides.
“We urge the US side to put its statement of welcoming Chinese students into practice, immediately stop generalising the concept of national security, and stop repatriating, interrogating and harassing Chinese students studying in the US,” it added.
