China Humiliated :
Scientists were predicting that a major earthquake would strike China. The usual kind of earthquake didn’t happen, but an economic earthquake did. The USA recently announced that it will start revoking Chinese students’ visas on a large scale. Hearing this, Chinese students themselves have said, “The good days are over for Chinese students after Trump’s crackdown on visas.”
In the coming time, you will see that the number of 280,000 Chinese students studying in the USA will significantly decrease. The Donald Trump administration has said that it will aggressively revoke visas of Chinese students. Naturally, China has said this is wrong. Many of their students have made life plans, studied in a way to pursue higher education, and studied English in China. Their hopes and dreams of studying in the US have been shattered by this sudden and discriminatory move by the USA.
But the US is making it very clear that it will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those who have any connection to the Chinese Communist Party. Now, don’t assume that only those with direct connections will be affected. Even if someone has a distant connection, their visa may also be revoked. It’s said that the Chinese Communist Party has about 100 million (10 crore) members. And now, it’s being stated that if a family had a father who was once a member of the Communist Party of China, even if the son hasn’t joined it, most likely the son’s visa will also be revoked.
So, this is a major crackdown on Chinese students. And at the same time, the US is also saying that in all critical fields—presumably meaning high-tech studies—any Chinese students currently enrolled should be removed immediately. Because the US does not want Chinese students to study at US universities, gain technology knowledge, and then return to China to apply that knowledge.
To be honest, I think we can all agree—the US is a little late. Had they done this 10–15 years ago, it might have had some real impact. Now, however, many of China’s universities have become world-class. I don’t think removing Chinese students from critical sectors will achieve much. But today, China is feeling humiliated because its students are being kicked out of the United States of America.
And not just this—Marco Rubio recently made a big statement that if anyone is seen criticizing Israel on social media, no matter where they are from, their visa will also be revoked.
Also, Trump’s visa policies—particularly the small changes he has made to visa rules—have made it so difficult that not just Chinese students, but even many Indian students may avoid going to the US. In the US, it will now be very difficult to work under a study visa. If you’re working a little bit on the side and miss a class, your visa might be revoked. The rules have become so strict that many foreign education counselors are predicting a 25% drop in the number of Indian students going to the US. These students will most likely go to Europe or Japan instead. Japan has even said that they are opening the doors of its universities. Many students from India and even China can come there.
Trump has blocked Harvard University from admitting foreign students this year. So, the foreign student industry that US universities were profiting from—Trump has, for now, effectively destroyed it.
Now, your question may be—okay, the Israel issue makes sense. The US is forever an ally of Israel, and there were recent protests in US universities against Israel. So what the US is doing there is part of its policy. But why are they removing Chinese students? What’s the reason behind that?
Well, I have to say this—I saw many US news outlets where their geopolitical experts and commentators are repeatedly saying that there is a law in China. One of the reporters said,
“Since Shak Chinese law is in place, Chinese nationals, including students, come to the United States on visas, and by the way, we take 300,000 Chinese students a year into our universities. There a books they have to provide intelligence gathering to the CCP.”
So, China has a law which mandates that if a Chinese student goes to the US to study, and at any time they get a phone call or message, day or night, from the Chinese Communist Party asking for information, they must provide it. The information could be anything—what they’re studying, what research they’re doing, who their professor is, developments in their research—whatever details the CCP asks for, the student is obligated to provide. This is the law.