A reporter from the Global Times recently learned from the Chinese Embassy in the United States that recently, many Chinese students studying abroad were questioned, harassed and even unreasonably repatriated when they entered the United States, with more than ten people.

According to the Chinese Embassy in the United States, these students whose entry was blocked were taken into a narrow room for long questioning, and their personal electronic devices were detained. U.S. law enforcement officers repeatedly questioned them about "whether they are members of the Communist Party of China or the Communist Youth League" and other questions unrelated to their study and academics.

China Embassy in the United States (data map)

According to reports, the entry process of some Chinese students studying abroad "suddenly entered the detention center": they can only wait for a long time in the designated area of the airport, and the temperature in this area is only ten degrees Celsius; At night, you can only curl up on a single narrow sofa, camp bed or even plastic stool for the night. There are neither blankets nor enough food to satisfy your hunger. Some people even have to use aluminum foil to keep warm.

In addition, some U.S. law enforcement personnel behave rough, some compelled students to question, some forced students, scholars to sign notes without reading the content carefully, and even restricted students to communicate with others.

China's embassy in the United States told the Global Times reporter that China expressed deep concern about such behavior by the United States and resolutely opposed it.We have made strict negotiations with the United States on the relevant cases at the first time, urging it to immediately correct the wrong behavior, but the United States has always failed to make substantial responses and explanations.

According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection refused to provide specific data on Chinese students with valid visas being questioned and repatriated at U.S. airports, and also refused to comment on this.

The Chinese Embassy in the United States stated that the United States frequently takes political and discriminatory selective law enforcement actions against Chinese students studying abroad, causing physical and mental harm, economic losses and academic interruption to the parties concerned. Such actions seriously infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens, hinder the normal exchanges of personnel between the two countries, and damage Sino-US cultural exchanges. The above-mentioned practices of the United States are full of serious ideological prejudice, which is bound to damage the political mutual trust between the two sides.

The embassy also said that the relevant behavior of the U.S. side is contrary to the statements of its leaders. U.S. President Trump has recently repeatedly spoken about this, saying that he will "allow 600,000 Chinese students to go to the U.S.", and said that if there are no Chinese students, "the U.S. university system will soon collapse."H, some U.S. departments and law enforcement personnel not only failed to faithfully fulfill the president's promise, but repeatedly took actions to disrupt and hinder China-U.S. educational exchanges, seriously damaging the reputation, credibility and interests of the U.S. China urged the U.S. to look right at the issue, pay attention to China's concerns, immediately correct the mistakes, thor

Several Chinese student service institutions and international student groups previously interviewed by Global Times reporters said that this year¡¯s progress in the processing of study visas to the United States was markedly delayed, and the student group in the master¡¯s stage was the most impacted. Industry insiders pointed out that the uncertainty of U.S. policy is becoming an important factor affecting student study decisions. At the same time, Singapore, China, Hong Kong and other places are also becoming ¡°new lovers¡± and ¡°alternative¡± destinations for Chinese students.

Global Times-Global Network Reporter Tommy

Extended reading

Speaking of Chinese students, Trump: to have good relations with nuclear powers

U.S. President Trump yesterday on several occasions shouted "welcome Chinese students", and even threw the claim to expand the size of Chinese students to 600,000, but the actual situation is that Chinese students in the United States suffered unreasonable scrutiny and harassment incidents have increased.

According to a report by The Daily Caller, a conservative website in the United States, on August 31st, Trump once again said in an interview on the 29th that it was the "right thing" for Chinese students to study in the United States. The reason he gave was that it was a good thing to get along well with other countries, especially with nuclear powers.

In response to a question about Chinese students staying in the U.S., Trump said it was ¡°very disrespectful¡± to ban Chinese students from traveling to the U.S. He said the practice would shock U.S. ¡°second-class universities.¡± Trump also told Reagan Reese, a reporter for Daily Communications, that he didn¡¯t want to see U.S. University in trouble due to policy changes.

Reesely asked in an interview, ¡°You still allow 600,000 Chinese students to study here...¡± Trump corrected, ¡°It¡¯s 600,000 in two years.¡±

Trump responded, ¡°When you refuse to accept Chinese students, I think it¡¯s very ruthless for a country (receiving them) is also good for our education system, and when you exclude them out, you know who will be affected, that¡¯s those second-class universities, the top universities won¡¯t.¡±

Reese then asked, ¡°Isn¡¯t it going to affect schools like Harvard, don¡¯t you think, because when I hear this, I think the conservatives will say, ¡®Well, let Harvard, Columbia, or any other university die of themselves,¡¯ but do you think that¡¯s going to affect secondary schools?¡±

Trump said he didn¡¯t want these schools to collapse, he wanted them to become excellent. He stressed once again that rejecting Chinese students was very ruthless and that it would damage the entire education system and, you know, my relationship with China was good.

When asked whether to expect specific rewards by allowing Chinese students to stay in the United States, Trump replied: ¡°No, no, I don¡¯t want any rewards. I just think we¡¯re doing the right thing. It¡¯s a good thing to be friendly with countries, especially with nuclear nations.¡±

Trump is interviewed.

However, just before this hour-long interview, the U.S. government issued a proposed regulation on the 27th, which plans to tighten the visa period for international students, cultural exchange visitors and foreign journalists. These visa holders will have to apply for an extension of their stay in the United States in the future. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security claims that this change is to better "supervise and manage" visa holders in the United States.

Prior to this, Trump had successively stated that Chinese students were "very important" to the United States. Without them, the American university system would "collapse".

On August 25, local time, Trump said in the White House, ¡°I¡¯ve heard a lot of stories that we¡¯re not going to allow their (China) students to enter.We¡¯re going to allow their students to enter.It¡¯s very important, 600,000 students.It¡¯s very important, we¡¯re going to be in harmony with China.¡±

However, this statement was subsequently questioned and criticized by right-wing conservatives in the "Make America Great Again" (MAGA) camp. Therefore, Trump pointed out at the White House cabinet meeting on the 26th that it was "very insulting" for Chinese students not to come to the United States. "I like their students to come here, and I like students from other countries to come here".

Trump explained, ¡°Do you know what would happen if they didn¡¯t?Our university system would soon collapse, and it¡¯s not the top university, it¡¯s the university that¡¯s struggling at the bottom of the ranking.¡±You kick 300,000 or 600,000 students out of the system,¡± he said, adding that the U.S. is ¡°honored¡± to educate Chinese students, but stressed that the U.S. side will ¡°be careful¡± to review to determine who can come to the U.S. to study.

Characteristics of Chinese Students (Web Map)

The Hong Kong South China Morning Post analyzes that while the United States and China continued to advance trade negotiations, Trump¡¯s previous high-profile administration claimed to ¡°actively withdraw¡± the Chinese student visa practice, saying that accepting Chinese students was ¡°very important¡±. This claim has caused some dissatisfaction within MAGA and also exposed the cracks inside its camp. Trump was previously seen as a hardener toward China, but now his uncertain Chinese policy makes more and more supporters feel that he is making ¡°dangerous concessions¡± to China.

During Trump¡¯s first term in office, he launched the infamous ¡°China Action Plan,¡± which rejected and deported many Chinese students and scholars, and led to a series of lawsuits against academics.

U.S. Secretary of State Rubio announced in May that he would "actively withdraw" Chinese student visas and will also revise visa application standards to strengthen the review of all future visa applications from mainland China and Hong Kong.

However, in June, after the U.S. and China reached a framework agreement on trade issues, the U.S. suspended the imposition of some tariffs, while slightly relaxing the attitude towards Chinese students.

The data show that China's number of foreign students to the United States reached a peak of 37,3 thousand in the academic year 2019-2020, and then began to decline. According to the data of the U.S. State Department, over 27,7 thousand Chinese students attended American schools in the academic year 2023-2024, a 4% decrease from the previous year. Meanwhile, India surpassed China by 33,2 thousand foreign students, becoming the largest country of origin for foreign students in the United States.

An analysis by the National Association of Foreign Student Advisors (NAFSA) found that international students studying at U.S. universities contributed $43.8 billion to the U.S. economy and provided 378,000 jobs in the 2023-2024 academic year. Citing data, NBC said that in 2023 alone, Chinese students contributed more than $14 billion to the U.S. economy.

Regarding Trump's recent positive statement, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular press conference that educational exchanges and cooperation will help enhance exchanges and understanding among people of all countries. China hopes that the United States will implement President Trump's statement of welcoming Chinese students to study in the United States, stop unprovoked harassment, interrogation and repatriation of Chinese students, and effectively protect their legitimate rights and interests.