China calls on US to end ‘toxic’ Trump-era visa rules for students

China has protested against the US’ decision to reject visa applications for hundreds of Chinese students, calling the move a “toxic legacy” of the Trump administration.

State newspaper China Daily reported on Tuesday that the Biden administration rejected visas for more than 500 Chinese students who had offers for postgraduate study in the sciences at top American universities.

According to the report, the rejections were based on the Trump-era Immigration and Nationality Act and Presidential Proclamation 10043, which suspends entry for Chinese students and researchers who Washington deems as being connected to China’s “military-civil fusion strategy”.

Washington has accused Beijing of using the strategy to acquire foreign technologies through researchers and private industry to help turn the People’s Liberation Army into a “world-class military” by 2049.

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Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called on the Biden administration to “correct its mistakes” and ease the visa restrictions.

“The US side’s restriction has continued the toxic legacy of the Trump administration. This is inconsistent with the US side’s claims that it welcomes Chinese students,” Zhao said.

“This has seriously harmed the legitimate rights of the Chinese students, and seriously interrupted the normal education and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

“The Chinese side is seriously concerned about this and has lodged a solemn representation with the US side.”

Qiao Xiangdong, owner of Beijing-based Gewai Education Consulting, said one Chinese electronic engineering student enrolled at Columbia University was not told why his visa application was rejected.

But Qiao said he was not surprised that it was turned down, because the student studied at Beijing Institute of Technology, which was added to the US “entity sanctions list” last year.

“This is not something new. These are issues left by the Trump administration,” Qiao said.

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Another visa applicant, who graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Harbin Institute of Technology in 2017 and a master’s degree in 2020, said he applied for a doctoral degree programme at the University of Chicago last year.

Harbin Institute of Technology was included in a US entity list for alleged support to the Chinese military, but the applicant said he hoped there would be some changes to the US visa policies under the new administration.

“I thought there will be some changes to proclamation 10043 under the Biden administration – maybe the scope or standard, as this proclamation doesn’t specify which universities and which majors are targeted,” the applicant said.

He said he applied for a US visa in March but it was rejected immediately.

“The embassy told me that the ban had not been cancelled, so this time they did not check again and denied my visa on the spot,” he said.

“They told me only a congressman could solve my problem by asking the US government to lift the ban, the embassy can only follow the rules.”

A third applicant said her visa application to do a master’s degree in computing and information at the University of Pittsburgh was also rejected this month.

“I’m sad and angry. I was actually expecting [the visa official] to ask more questions. She only asked for my i20 and passport, but I was rejected,” she said, referring to a document proving the applicant is enrolled in a US programme of study.

“People from other schools are booking flights, renting homes, looking for roommates, and some of them have even arrived in the US. They are prepared to embrace future lives, but we are stuck here because of PP10043.”

The Biden administration said in April that it would ease restrictions on Chinese and other students travelling to the United States.

But in May, the US embassy in Beijing said this process had been suspended.

At the same time, a visa application for a Chinese student planning to study in the US was rejected because the applicant’s father worked for the police.

Zhao urged Washington to review the restrictions, and called on the US to “stop using all kinds of excuses to restrict and suppress Chinese students, protect their legitimate rights, and create favourable conditions for Sino-US cultural and educational exchanges”.

There were 370,000 Chinese students in the US in 2019-2020.

Additional reporting by Ziyu Zhang and Amber Wang