在美中国留学生正被“政治化和边缘化”
近日，特朗普政府对中国留学生采取多项限制措施，不仅取消了3000名学生的签证，更声称部分中国留学生在美国从事非法活动，建议禁止中国留学生学习科学类的相关课程。
目前，美国约有36万名中国学生入学，其中的大多数都属于自费行为。锡拉丘兹大学社会学副教授马英一认为，随着华盛顿发出“非常不友好的信号”，在美国的中国学生正“在前所未有的程度上被政治化和边缘化”。
紧张的双边关系也动摇了公众舆论，最近的一项调查发现，73%的美国成年人对中国持不利看法，达到历史最高水平。
Chinese students in the U.S. are now "politicized and marginalized at an unprecedented level," as Washington is sending "very unfriendly signals," said Yingyi Ma, associate professor of sociology at Syracuse University.
The Trump administration canceled visas for 3,000 students they believe have ties to the Chinese military in early June, while a senator even suggested that Chinese students should be banned from studying math and science in America.
According to BBC, the intense bilateral relations have affected public opinion, as a recent survey found that 73 percent of American adults have an unfavorable view of China – a historic high.
Yingyi Ma's book published in January. /Photo via columbia.edu
Meanwhile, the growing scrutiny over Chinese students and scholars in science and technology has made many feel concerned and pessimistic about their academic future in the U.S.
Ma published a book titled "Ambitious and Anxious" in January, which focuses on Chinese students' experience in America and traces their success and struggles in American higher education. "If I write the book now, I will only keep 'anxious' in the title," she told BBC.
There are also concerns that President Trump's use of the phrases "kung flu" and "China virus "will create discrimination against the Chinese community in the United States, which has seen an increase in anti-Asian sentiment during the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Racial discrimination during the pandemic has "burst their bubble," Ma said.
A new paper co-penned by Jennifer Pan, assistant professor of Communications at Stanford University, and three other authors, showed that anti-Chinese racism boosts support for the Chinese government among Chinese students in the U.S., while general criticism against the government's coronavirus handling did not produce the same effects.
According to Pan, the findings suggested that Chinese students in the U.S., whose survey responses are "mature, sophisticated and thoughtful for their age," can rationally process criticism against China.