WASHINGTON: The United States has revoked visas for more than 1,000 Chinese nationals under a May 29 presidential proclamation to suspend entry from China of students and researchers deemed security risks, a State Department spokeswoman said on Wednesday (Sep 9).
The acting head of the US Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, said earlier that Washington was blocking visas "for certain Chinese graduate students and researchers with ties to China's military fusion strategy to prevent them from stealing and otherwise appropriating sensitive research".
In a speech, Wolf repeated US charges of unjust business practices and industrial espionage by China, including attempts to steal coronavirus research, and accused it of abusing student visas to exploit American academia.
Wolf said the United States was also "preventing goods produced from slave labour from entering our markets, demanding that China respect the inherent dignity of each human being," an apparent reference to alleged abuses of Muslims in China's Xinjiang region.
A State Department spokeswoman said the visa action was being taken under a proclamation President Donald Trump announced on May 29 as part of the US response to China's curbs on democracy in Hong Kong.
"As of Sep 8, 2020, the Department has revoked more than 1,000 visas of PRC nationals who were found to be subject to Presidential Proclamation 10043 and therefore ineligible for a visa," she said.
She said the ineligible "high-risk graduate students and research scholars" represented "a small subset" of the Chinese coming to the United States to study and research and that legitimate students and scholars would continue to be welcomed.
READ: China delays renewing credentials for journalists at US outlets
US Customs and Border Protection officials have prepared orders to block imports of cotton and tomato products from Xinjiang over accusations of forced labour, though a formal announcement has been delayed.
China said in June it resolutely opposed any US move to restrict Chinese students from studying in the United States and urged Washington to do more to enhance mutual exchanges and understanding.
About 360,000 Chinese nationals study in the US, bringing in significant revenue to US colleges, although the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted the return to campus this autumn semester.
DETERIORATING RELATIONS
Sino-US relations have sunk to historic lows with the world's two biggest economies clashing over issues ranging from trade and human rights to Hong Kong and the coronavirus.
Trump, who had touted friendly ties with Chinese President Xi Jinping as he sought to make good on promises to rebalance a massive trade deficit, has made getting tough on China a key part of his campaign for re-election on Nov 3. He has accused his Democratic opponent Joe Biden, who leads in most opinion polls, of being soft toward Beijing.
Earlier, some Chinese students enrolled in US universities said they received emailed notices from the US embassy in Beijing or US consulates in China on Wednesday informing them that their visas had been cancelled.
READ: Need a visa to visit the US? Expect much longer wait times, officials warn
Nearly 50 students holding F-1 academic visas including postgraduates and undergraduates said in a WeChat chatroom the notices stated they would have to apply for new visas if they wanted to travel to the United States.
Many in the chatroom said they were majoring in subjects such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Some said they were postgraduates who obtained bachelor's degrees at Chinese universities with links to the People's Liberation Army.
In late May, sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters Washington was planning to cancel the visas of thousands of Chinese graduate students believed to have links to China's military.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMicWh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vbmV3cy93b3JsZC91cy1ibG9ja3MtdmlzYXMtb2Ytc29tZS1jaGluZXNlLWdyYWR1YXRlLXN0dWRlbnRzLXJlc2VhcmNoZXJzLTEzMDk2NjE00gEA?oc=5
2020-09-09 22:41:15Z
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