China’s foreign ministry has fiercely condemned the Trump administration’s plan to revoke visas for Chinese students, denouncing it as a “political and discriminatory” move that threatens academic exchange and bilateral ties.
In a statement on Thursday, ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said Beijing has lodged a formal protest with Washington after the US announced it would “aggressively revoke” visas for Chinese nationals, particularly those studying in fields deemed sensitive. “We strongly condemn the US government’s unjust measures,” Mao declared, accusing the administration of politicising educational cooperation. According to AFP, China urged the US to “safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of international students, including those from China.”
The visa policy shift was announced Wednesday by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who said the US would also tighten screening criteria for all future student visa applications from China and Hong Kong. Rubio’s directive follows earlier steps to suspend visa appointments and ramp up social-media checks on applicants. He stated:
“We will revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.”
Rubio has already revoked thousands of visas—often linked to students involved in political activism critical of US allies—while also suspending Harvard University’s student visa privileges amid disputes over campus protests and alleged anti-Semitism. “The president is more interested in giving that taxpayer money to trade schools and programmes and state schools where they are promoting American values,” White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News.
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The potential mass visa cancellations strike at a key revenue source for US universities: 277,398 Chinese students enrolled in the 2023–24 academic year, per a State Department–backed Institute of International Education report. Young scholars from China have long been vital to American campuses, paying full tuition and contributing to research excellence.
The policy has also unsettled students from allied nations. A Taiwanese PhD candidate bound for California expressed anxiety over delayed processing, saying, “All I can do now is wait and hope for the best.”
As legal challenges mount—Harvard has filed extensive lawsuits against the administration—the measures risk undermining the US’s global educational leadership and bilateral relations with China.
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