We vow to “actively” revoke Chinese student visas; Trump says Chinese students are welcome

After U.S. officials said two weeks ago that they would “actively” withdraw visas for Chinese students attending U.S. universities and increase reviews for student visa applicants, President Trump said Wednesday that he had reached an agreement with China, “with our universities already reached an agreement.”

The president did not provide a brief overview of a trade agreement with China in the announcement, saying he said both sides approved his truth social platform in the approval.

However, the decision seems to relax the bench for the second largest international student body in the U.S., which has been under scrutiny since May 28, when Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the U.S. would broadly revoke Chinese student visas and have links to the Chinese Communist Party or those studying unnamed “key areas.”

Trump said on Wednesday that having Chinese students in American schools “has always been nice to me!”

“Our deal with China has been completed and must be finalized by President Xi Jinping and me. The complete magnet, as well as any necessary rare earths, will be provided by China,” Trump said in his full hat post.

The State Council did not respond to requests for clarification on visa matters, including the question of whether Rubio is still applicable.

The policy of actively canceling Chinese student visas in May has angered higher education nationwide and in California. The university relies on the full tuition paid by international students and considers Chinese and other foreign students to be indispensable for their academic operations and tasks to cultivate a variety of campuses.

The May 28 Rubio announcement (and now potential relaxation) has exacerbated uncertainty among universities that have taken a series of actions under Trump, including grant cancellations, federal investigations into so-called anti-Semitism, and an investigation into admissions policy.

International students are especially in the crosshairs. In the spring, there were thousands of student visa cancellations because violations were smaller ticketing and attempts to expel pro-Palestinian University activists for international students. Pauses for new student visa application appointments were suspended, while the State Department added security review procedures, including exploring Pro-Palestinian language and images in social media profiles.

The new travel ban imposed by Trump on Monday also led some universities to recommend students from the list of countries to postpone admission.

Of the 1.1 million foreign students enrolled in American universities, about 277,000 Chinese are second only to Indians. California’s 51,000 Chinese nationals account for one-third of the state’s nearly 141,000 foreign students. The University of California has 17,832 Chinese students on all its campuses. Locally, USC has nearly 6,000 and UCLA has 2,208.

A spokesman for the University of California declined to comment on Trump’s social media post, noting the university’s previous statement on restrictions on Chinese student visas, which “concerned about the U.S. State Department’s announcement to revoke visas for Chinese students.”

“Chinese students, as well as all of our international students, academics, faculty and staff, are important members of our university community and have made great contributions to our research, teaching, patient care and public service tasks,” the statement said.

A USC spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Even though there is no data pointing to widespread security issues for Chinese students and scholars, events have occurred in recent years. This week, the United States said it arrested a Chinese scientist who arrived in Detroit to conduct research at the University of Michigan. Scientists from Wuhan University of Science and Technology have been accused of illegally smuggling biological materials related to worms that require government permission.

In an interview, Rep. Mark Tacknow, a member of the House Committee of the Education and Workforce, led by the Republican Party, said that Trump’s potential shift to “taco” in Chinese student visas, which some Democrats use to say “Trump always comes out”, reflecting the president’s policy shift. Republicans believe that the president’s transformation is the power of negotiations.

“It is an important part of the United States when allowing Chinese students to come here,” said Gao Nuo. “But his intervention in college actions endangered higher education companies in the United States. ”

Experts say that letting Chinese students here also have political value.

“For the United States, take Chinese students [here] Not only do you want to educate them in disciplines like mathematics and science – it’s about educating them with American values ​​like democracy and freedom of speech,” said Emily Baum, associate professor of modern Chinese history at UC Irvine. “I hope they will stay in the United States because they enjoy these values ​​here or bring them back to China and influence China and influence the political system. ”

One expert added that it may be that the Trump administration’s evacuees shut down some Chinese students and decided to stay in China for college.

In about 2000, China began a major campaign to build a new university, said Gaurav Khanna, associate professor of economics at the University of California, San Diego. He said that in about five years, it doubled the number of institutions in the country.

“They invested a lot,” Kana said. “In some ways, they’re perfect for saying, ‘Hey, don’t risk going to the second phase of the American university. Why don’t you go back to China and go to this very good university, where…is there…are research funding?”’