Covid-19: foreign students raring to return to Chinese universities after being hit by years-long absence

Name: Explainer: How China’s Covid-19 health code system works
Uploaded: 2022-08-26T22:00:24.000Z
Duration: 5 min 6 s
Description: Explainer: How China’s Covid-19 health code system works

First batch of European students locked out of on-campus studies fought long campaign, including appeals to embassies and the media, to return to China

A student in India awaits confirmation from university before he can apply for visa to rejoin friends and resume studies

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Travellers queue for Covid tests on arrival at Changshui International Airport in Kunming, China. Foreign students enrolled in Chinese universities have been locked out of the country for 2½ years because of Beijing’s strict pandemic measures. Photo: Bloomberg

Liu Zhen

Published: 6:00am, 27 Aug 2022Updated: 6:46am, 27 Aug 2022

On August 4, when Deborah Bret was told by a worker at the Chinese embassy in Paris that French students would be allowed to return to study in China soon, she felt the 2½-year actions she and her friends had taken had finally paid off.

“I was like, ‘OMG we did it!’ I felt like we finally achieved something,” said the French student who has been away from her Chinese campus, adding they felt their efforts had not been in vain.

The foreign students had been barred from returning to their universities in mainland China by Beijing’s Covid-19 pandemic controls. Since then, they have had to carry on with online classes several time zones away and have had their grants stopped.

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Explainer: How China’s Covid-19 health code system works

European students who were locked out of their studies in China formed several groups and tried every channel possible to get back on campus.

They published appeals in media outlets such as Le Monde, Libération, Le Figaro and the South China Morning Post, raised the issue with the Chinese and French embassies, and even provided an assessment from psychiatrists.

“I don’t know which action made the difference [or] if our effort to return fostered the process [at all],” Bret said.

A dim ray of hope appeared in June, when universities began to ask them to fill in forms regarding their willingness to return, and amid signs of Beijing slightly easing entry rules.

Tough border restrictions have been in place in China since the Covid-19 pandemic erupted in early 2020. All foreigners were barred from entry, even if they held valid visas, except for urgent “humanitarian reasons” such as in cases of bereavement and to visit critically ill relatives.