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BEIJING (AFP) – China accused Washington of “political persecution and racial discrimination” on Thursday (September 10), after the United States confirmed that it had revoked the visas of more than 1,000 Chinese students under an order from President Donald Trump that accused some of espionage. .
Trump declared in May that some Chinese nationals who were officially in the United States to study had stolen intellectual property and helped modernize China’s military, as tensions between the two countries soared on multiple fronts.
China’s Foreign Ministry responded on Thursday saying that the United States should “immediately stop using all kinds of pretexts to restrict and repress Chinese students in the United States for no reason.”
“This is outright political persecution and racial discrimination. It seriously violates the human rights of these Chinese students, ”Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said at a press conference.
He said China reserved the right to “continue to respond.”
The US State Department released its first figures on the effects of Trump’s order on Wednesday, saying more than 1,000 student and researcher visas had been revoked since it began implementing the proclamation on June 1.
“High-risk graduate students and research scholars who are not eligible under this proclamation represent a small subset of the total number of Chinese students and scholars coming to the United States,” said a State Department spokeswoman.
“We continue to welcome legitimate students and academics from China who do not promote the Chinese Communist Party’s aims of military rule.”
The State Department declined to elaborate on whose visas were revoked, citing privacy laws.
Nearly 370,000 students from China were enrolled in U.S. universities in 2018-19, the most of any country, offering a lucrative source of income to institutions now facing mounting pressure from the coronavirus pandemic.
Some Asian American activists have warned that Trump’s orders are creating a climate of suspicion on campuses, and students of Asian descent face unfounded questions about his intentions.
But US officials say the number of espionage cases involving China has soared in recent years as part of a concerted effort by Beijing.
US officials accuse China of trying to steal university research on Covid-19, a cited reason for the Trump administration’s closing of China’s consulate in Houston in June.
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