In another blow to China, the United States (US) State Department on Wednesday (Sept 9) revoked visas of more than 1,000 Chinese students and researchers. This was an executive order issued by President Donald Trump who has accused some of them of espionage.
The US has accused Chinese students of indulging in stealing intellectual property to enhance and modernize China’s military. More than 1,000 visas have been revoked since the proclamation on June 1.
“The high-risk graduate students and research scholars made ineligible under this proclamation represent a small subset of the total number of Chinese students and scholars coming to the United States,” a State Department spokeswoman said.
“We continue to welcome legitimate students and scholars from China who do not further the Chinese Communist Party’s goals of military dominance,” she said.
In the academic year 2018/19 session, nearly 370,000 students from China were enrolled at US universities. For the universities, the Chinese students bring lots of revenue and in return, Chinese students get access to some of the best research facilities in the world.
Trump has been accused of racism by targeting Chinese students, but the fact is China with the help of these students have indulged in stealing intellectual property costing billions to US companies.