Caught in the crossfire: Chinese students struggle to get home from the US as rift deepens

Name: US colleges face US$15 billion hit as Chinese students stay away amid coronavirus pandemic
Uploaded: 2020-05-29T09:00:18.000Z
Duration: 1 min 25 s
Description: US colleges face US$15 billion hit as Chinese students stay away amid coronavirus pandemic

It’s a waiting game for those trying to return amid tit-for-tat travel restrictions imposed by Beijing and Washington during pandemic

As tensions worsen, analyst says there may be ‘an ongoing aviation proxy war’ in the long term between the two countries

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The US now requires Chinese carriers to file proposed flight schedules at least 30 days in advance. Beijing, meanwhile, has yet to approve applications from US carriers to restart services to China. Photo: AFP

Sarah ZhengandAmanda Lee

Published: 5:00pm, 29 May 2020Updated: 11:51pm, 29 May 2020

Ethan Qi should already be home for the summer.

The Shanghai native, who recently graduated from a university in Boston, planned to fly back to China in May but could not get a ticket because of the coronavirus pandemic. He tried twice to register for flights announced by the Chinese consulate in New York but was not able to secure a seat, leaving him to wait in Boston for one of the few flights home.

Now he may have to wait even longer. The US Department of Transportation last week said it would require Chinese carriers to file proposed flight schedules at least 30 days in advance, in response to Beijing not yet approving US carriers’ applications to resume services to China.

“My friends and I are not too worried because we think we will be able to buy flights later in June or July, although we have seen a lot of people around us already have their flights back to China pushed back,” Qi said. “But it will be quite concerning if US-China relations deteriorate further and they stop flights entirely or something like that.”

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US colleges face US$15 billion hit as Chinese students stay away amid coronavirus pandemic

The nearly 370,000 Chinese students in the United States have been among those caught in the crossfire of tit-for-tat air travel restrictions between Beijing and Washington, as the major powers continue to lock horns during the pandemic.