June 1:U.S. bans some Chinese students from entering its borders

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Cover image: File photo via VCG

The White House has banned some Chinese students and researchers from entering the United States after accusing them of stealing intellectual property, according to a statement issued by the White House on Friday. The entry ban goes into effect at midnight on June 1, 2020.

According to a statement from the White House, the U.S. government has deemed some Chinese students, especially post-graduate students and post-doctorate researchers, to be stealing sensitive technologies and intellectual properties for the benefit of the Chinese government, which could threaten the security of the U.S.

But some Western media such as ABC News and the Wall Street Journal considered the move to be part of the U.S. reaction to the latest adoption of a draft decision by China's top legislature, concerning the legislation of a national security law for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR).

The move, first reported by the New York Times ahead of Trump's announcement, is estimated to influence at least 3,000-5,000 Chinese students.

During Friday's Chinese Foreign Ministry press conference, spokesperson Zhao Lijian said such a move would run counter to the openness and freedom the U.S. claims to champion, and would impact the normal cultural and personnel exchanges between the two countries while undermining the social foundation for bilateral relations.

"It would be stark political persecution and racial discrimination and a grave violation of their human rights," Zhao said at the press conference, urging the U.S. side to stop using all sorts of excuses to wantonly restrict and repress Chinese students in the U.S.

It "exposed some Americans' deep-seated, zero-sum Cold War mentality," the spokesperson said, and queried whether or not this is "a rebirth of the notorious ghost of McCarthyism".

American universities are also expected to push back against the decision of the administration. According to Reuters, so far there are some 360,000 Chinese nationals studying in U.S. schools annually, generating about 14 billion U.S. dollars, including tuition and other fees.

Meanwhile, the U.S. officials acknowledged that there was no direct evidence pointing to any wrongdoing by the students who are about to lose their visas, according to the New York Times.

Senators propose bill to block Chinese from STEM study in the U.S.

VCG

Two Republican senators presented a bill on Thursday designed to stop Chinese students from getting visas to study in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields in the United States.

Senators Tom Cotton and Marsha Blackburn claimed that they came to the decision because they believe China is using U.S. universities to conduct economic espionage.

It's not the first time that American politicians have suggested setting restrictions on Chinese people studying in the U.S. since the trade dispute between the world's two largest economies escalated last year. U.S. President Donald Trump has, on different occasions, said that the U.S. is always open to Chinese students.

The suggestion has provoked strong criticism among Chinese online users, who say politics is threating their academic development. 

"So this is the so-called human rights in the U.S. It's nothing but racial discrimination," said a user named "Feng Feng Huo Huo." Another poster, "Di Qi Dao", said, "If it's proved, I'd say the U.S. universities will be the biggest victim. If there's no Chinese studying in those fields, the U.S. universities will suffer from hugely downsized enrollments.”

Source: CGTN

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