When can international students return to China?

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International students haven’t been able to attend Chinese universities for close to a year. Source: Peter Parks/AFP

International students have been locked out of China since March 2020 due to COVID-19-related border closures. Many feel their studies are disrupted, fear they will not be able to graduate and are struggling from a lack of support and information by Chinese universities and authorities over their return. Frustrations have reached a crescendo, prompting students to start several online campaigns for their swift return to China.

While the number of COVID-19 cases has been subsiding in China, there’s no news over when international students are expected to return at the time of writing. Countries such as Australia and Canada have slowly begun allowing international students to return, prompting students here to call for the same. Here’s what we know so far about the situation:

2021 admissions at Chinese universities

According to China Admissions, an official representative of many top Chinese universities, “Admissions are going ahead as normal for 2021 intake,” but added, “The situation for 2021 intake depends on the COVID-19 situation, the policy of China and the university policy.” Most students in China have resumed offline learning but those stuck outside the country are expected to resume online learning until further changes.

When can international students return to China?

It says China concerns about international students rights, requiring universities to deal with their concerns. And China will arrange them back to school in the condition of safety.
A new hope !#TakeStudentsBackToChina #takeUsBackToChina pic.twitter.com/Sm8e4PiCGZ

— Hashir (@HashirTanveer7) January 3, 2021

For now, the answer remains to be seen but reports note that China is still studying the return of foreign students. “It is not possible to know when the policy will change, we just need to wait for the official news. We advise you to contact your university for the latest announcements and news on their specific policy,” said China Admissions. According to China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Wang Wenbin, the Chinese government is serious about the rights of its international students and called for its universities to be responsible for ensuring the wellbeing of its students, in addition to responding to their problems.

China student visa

International students cannot study in China without a valid Chinese student visa, also known as the X visa. China Admissions notes that international students who are already in China can still receive the JW202 form from their Chinese university upon admission acceptance. Scholarship China notes, “JW201/JW202 is a form generated by a Chinese university upon admission acceptance. Once you’re accepted, your Chinese university will send you [a] ‘Visa Application for Study in China (JW202 Form)’.” They note that some Chinese universities can still issue the JW202 to students outside China, subject to policy changes, in which case, students can use the form to apply for a visa at their embassy.

Fees for online programmes

COVID-19 regulations. Source: Kena Betancur / AFP

Tuition fees are expected to remain the same despite universities moving teaching online for current international students. Some universities have given discounts to international students, such as the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE) in Beijing, which temporarily lowered its tuition fees for academic programmes in the fall 2020 semester by 20%.

Online campaigns in full steam

This is a file that shows China has started the vaccination of international students who are in China now. Hope will be your turn who are out of China by March. Just keep your pressure harder and harder and do not give up.#TakeUsBackToSchool#takeUsBackToChina pic.twitter.com/FLiN0WAt3s

— Ali Moshiri (@AliMoshiri1) December 28, 2020

International students are campaigning actively online. There is a #TakeStudentsBacktoChina campaign on Twitter. Affected students have also started an online petition calling for clearer communication regarding China’s plan for international students’ return. A public Facebook group Save Foreign Students Of China aims to provide help or information regarding struggles with study, visas or school policies to international students in China, including those currently in and out of the country.

International students eager to return to China

International students want a swift return to China. Source: May James/ AFP

International students have started a #TakeStudentsBacktoChina campaign on Twitter and here’s why: there is a lack of support and information by Chinese universities and authorities over when foreign students will be allowed to return to China. The situation is hurting master’s and PhD students the most as they need to be physically present in China to conduct their research. With no recourse to do so, their ability to complete their degrees on time hangs on the balance.

“In this situation graduate students cannot perform scientific and sociological research, since most of the topics of their graduation papers are related to the Chinese language or culture,” Tweeted user “@Julia89661093”

While more Canadian universities are reopening, international students have been barred from entering or leaving China. For some, the solution for now is to take online classes. Others are not as fortunate. A British chemist working toward her PhD at a Chinese university told Times Higher Education, “I cannot complete my work remotely at all, as it is completely lab-based. My PhD will be suspended and delayed until I’m able to return; however, it will reduce my chances of completing my PhD in the time limit, as some universities only allow enrolment for a maximum of five years.”

Since late March, international students have not been granted access to the country and are getting more frustrated by the lack of communication and updates they are receiving. China’s Ministry of Education told the Indian Embassy in Beijing “It is suggested that students should maintain close contact with relevant Chinese colleges and unis and arrange to study in China in strict accordance with suggestions and guidance.”

Frustrated international students are now campaigning to be allowed back into China. They are collecting signatures and sending videos of appeal to Chinese consulates overseas and foreign consulates in China. Chances of this working, however, appear dim for now. As cases surge around the world, China has barred non-Chinese travellers from Britain, France, Belgium, the Philippines and India.

Flights into the country are severely limited and can be cancelled at short notice. Anyone who wants to return to China must take two COVID-19 tests no more than 48 hours before their flight. They must also show test results from each country they transit to and undergo 14 days of self-funded quarantine.

Some international students are stranded in China and cannot leave. Some have had their scholarship support cut, making many struggle to make rent and pay for food.

Students Volunteer to Support Returned Students in Quarantine

Financially planning your academic career can be overwhelming, but staying up to date on fees will make the process much easier. Source: Spencer Platt/Getty Images/AFP

International students have begun trickling back into Shanghai, and, as part of the city’s COVID-19 control protocols, are and will be completing a required 14-day quarantine in various hotels around the city.  But they won’t be alone in spirit. 

In a strong show of community spirit, some 60 NYU Shanghai students are volunteering to support their international classmates through their travels and isolation periods in these coming weeks.

Volunteers - who have introduced themselves via NYU Shanghai’s Instagram stories - are ready to help students order food and other items for their rooms, print and deliver essential documents, or drop by for a morale-boosting window visit.

The idea came from senior Lancelot Qilin Zhang ’21, who dubbed his initiative the ‘Homecoming Room of Requirement,’  a Harry Potter reference to a secret room at Hogwarts that only appears when someone is truly in need of it.

“Very often we just get carried away by our own busy lives and forget to provide the support and companion[ship] that we could easily offer one another, ” says Zhang. “What I hope to do is to help people recognize that there are simple but significant things we can do for each other.”

Eight days into his quarantine, Declan Mazur ’23 says he is grateful for the chance to be in Shanghai again. From Worcester, Massachusetts, Mazur first met up with two friends in New York City—one from Utah and the other from Georgia—so that they could all take the same flight back to Shanghai together.  

“Being able to come back here is a privilege. I’m grateful that everything worked out,” says Mazur, who had flown back to the U.S. at the outset of the COVID pandemic in February.

Knowing that many of his belongings were still in Shanghai, Mazur traveled light and was prepared to embrace his quarantine period minimalistically. “I just was like, I’ll wear the same shirt for three days, you know, society doesn’t really exist for me for 14 days, so I can wear whatever I want.”

Hoping to complement the efforts of the NYU Shanghai Student Life staff and Orientation Ambassadors, Zhang and the volunteers have already made window-side visits to students in quarantine, passing along essentials including clothing, food, and health supplies from the Student Health Center.

“Lancelot brought me some clothes, which was so generous. It worked out that we were the same size,” says Mazur. He also appreciates the quick action taken by the school to help students have access to better WiFi. “The school rapidly bought these little devices for us to use and sent them to us over the past 48 hours and helped us set them up.”

Even while in quarantine, Mazur is finding ways to help other students who are anxious to get back to Shanghai, beyond his duties as an Orientation Ambassador. 

“Even though the last day of the job technically ends tomorrow, we're going to keep working with first year students the whole time, because this is an ongoing process.”

Mazur encourages students coming back to Shanghai to stay as organized as possible before making the trip back. “You can do it. Even if you think you’ve checked something, check it again—if you call some place to see if they do  [the COVID tests required to board a flight to China], call them again. If you think you have enough tests, do two more. Call the airline just for reassurance that you’re all set.”

“The biggest piece of advice I can give is don’t do this process alone. There are so many communication channels for help. We’re just a tiny little speck in the support system,” he says.

As a senior, Zhang says he feels closer to graduation every day and doesn’t want to miss out on meeting new friends before his time at NYU Shanghai comes to a close. “I need international friends around me! The campus feels incomplete without them here. I haven't even met most current students—imagine all the amazing people and fascinating minds that I will have missed if I don't even try—I can't even sit still on this thought.”

“I believe in the bonding power within a group that makes every effort to help someone else. I think these are the things we as a community need in a semester where we all cover our faces,” says Zhang. “We are not strangers.” 

Source: https://www.studyinternational.com/news/return-to-china-2021-chinese-universities,Breaking News by Study International Staff ,04 Jan 2021; 宝安外语协会 https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/tyehbaP5oCbVIqNPFMVc3w

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