United States accused China of exploiting its universities and stealing its critical information, with the aim of improving its military and surveillance capabilities, and therefore ratified its decision to revoke visas for many of its students.
The State Department spokesperson, Tammy Bruce, said in the last few hours that the Donald Trump Administration will not tolerate the “exploitation” of its universities by the Chinese Communist Party, nor will it tolerate the theft of its research and intellectual property, and insisted that it will continue with its plan to “aggressively” suspend the study permits of an as-yet-unspecified number of students. He pointed out that the main affected will be those “who are considered a threat to the country or a problem”, although he did not specify how these conditions would be determined.As part of its crackdown on universities, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, announced this Tuesday that he will revoke the visas of some Chinese students, especially those linked to the CCP or enrolled in critical area careers, as the Government deems appropriate.
“When it comes to keeping the country safe, the United States will not tolerate exploitation by the CCP of American universities or the theft of American intellectual property or research technologies to increase its military power, carry out intelligence work, or suppress the voices of opposition,” Rubio said then.
Thus, the official added, “the new visa policies put the United States first, not China”.
Following his directive, Bruce reported this Thursday that the State Department had already begun the process of reviewing the relevant cases and that the revocations will begin “sooner rather than later”.
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“All people who are here with a visa must recognize that the United States takes their visas very seriously. Verification is not a one-time process (…) We are reviewing visas,” he said, while reiterating that for the Trump Administration “every visa adjudication is a matter of national security”.
China condemned the White House’s decision and accused it of carrying out a “politically motivated and discriminatory action (…) under the pretext of ideology and national security”.
The measure “seriously undermines the legitimate rights and interests” of Chinese students, “obstructs normal educational and cultural exchanges,” “exposes the falsity of the supposed freedom and openness that the United States claims to defend” and “will further damage its international image and credibility,” said Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning.
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Like China, the university of Harvard has also been a target of the political controversies of Trump and his cabinet.
A few days ago, the State Department reported that it had blocked the possibility of the University enrolling international students, amid its clashes over protests and acts of violence on campus. Likewise, the Government urged the establishment to reduce its foreign student body from 25% to 15% and cut a large part of its federal subsidies.
