News - Middle East: China has slammed Trump's decision to revoke visas of Chinese students, saying such a "politically motivated and discriminatory" practice exposes the hypocrisy behind the long-celebrated US claims of freedom and openness.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the US administration would "aggressively" revoke the visas of Chinese students, adding that it would particularly go after those with connections to the Chinese government or studying in critical fields.

According to Rubio, Trump has also tightened visa checks on future applications from China and Hong Kong.

Chinese government spokesman Mao Ning then objected to it on the same day, urging Washington to “safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of international students, including those from China”.

On Thursday, China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs told reporters it had lodged diplomatic representations.

According to the Chinese spokesman, the US administration is using national security and ideology as a pretext for the “unreasonable” decision, which “seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students and disrupted the normal cultural exchanges between the two countries.”

“This political and discriminatory practice of the US has exposed the lies of the so-called freedom and openness that the US has always advertised, and further damaged the US’s own international image, national image and national credibility,” Mao said.

Chinese students are considered a major revenue stream for American colleges and have long been crucial to US universities, with 277,398 attending them in the 2023–24 academic year alone, says the US Institute of International Education.

The Americans’ decision has infuriated the Chinese academic community, with students arguing that Trump’s decision has been made “without any thoughts for the consequences.”

"This US policy may seem to be a hasty decision, but it has had an immeasurably devastating impact," a Chinese student named Bi Jingxin told AFP News Agency.

"If we Chinese want to study in the US, the most important thing is its faculties and cutting-edge academic achievements," Bi said.

Bi said Washington is "not behaving in a way that's conducive to the spread of the United States' international academic image."

The Chinese perception of education in the US has also been dented, with students tending to opt for other alternatives.

"If (the US) is targeting us so strongly, it chips away at my best options for studying abroad, as well as my impression of the United States," said a student at the Beijing International Studies University (BISU).

While she may have considered a course at an American college before, "now, my expectations of the country have been lowered," she said, adding that she might opt for Europe instead.

Another BISU student found the move unfair, saying, "Students go to the US purely for academic progress, so they shouldn’t have to deal with these kinds of inconveniences."

Moreover, a large number of Chinese high school students who are preparing to study in the United States later this year now face uncertainty over their international futures.

The move by Trump came a day after he ordered US embassies worldwide to immediately stop scheduling visa interviews for foreign students.

Earlier this week, he revoked Harvard’s ability to enroll foreign nationals, saying the institution is supporting Palestine.

Trump is angry at Harvard for resisting his push for oversight on admissions and hiring.

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