US cancels visas of over 1,000 Chinese nationals deemed security risks
Washington cites students' ties to PLA, but Beijing calls move a violation of human rights
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WASHINGTON • The United States has revoked visas for more than 1,000 Chinese nationals under a presidential measure denying entry to students and researchers deemed security risks, the State Department said on Wednesday, a move China called a violation of human rights.
Beijing also said yesterday that the Australian Embassy in China obstructed law enforcement when it sheltered two journalists who were wanted for questioning in China and returned to Australia this week.
In the US, the acting head of the Department of Homeland Security, Mr 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".
Mr Wolf, in a speech, repeated US charges of unjust business practices and industrial espionage by China, including attempts to steal coronavirus research data, and accused the Asian giant of abusing student visas to exploit American academia.
Mr Wolf said the US 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 accusations of abuse of Muslim Uighurs in Xinjiang.
A State Department spokesman said the visa action followed a May 29 proclamation by President Donald Trump as part of the US response to China's curbs on democracy in Hong Kong.
"As of Tuesday, 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," the spokesman said, referring to China's formal name, the People's Republic of China.
She said the ineligible "high-risk graduate students and research scholars" were "a small subset" of the Chinese coming to the US for study and research, and that legitimate students and scholars would continue to be welcomed.
About 360,000 Chinese nationals study in the US, bringing its colleges significant revenue, though the Covid-19 pandemic has severely disrupted their return to campus for this autumn semester.
In Beijing yesterday, a Foreign Ministry spokesman described the US move as "naked" political persecution and racial discrimination that seriously violated human rights.
"China reserves the right to make a further response on this issue," Mr Zhao Lijian told a daily media briefing.
Some Chinese students enrolled in US universities said that they learnt of the cancellations in e-mailed notices received on Wednesday from the US Embassy in Beijing or consulates in China.
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360k
Approximate number of Chinese nationals who study in the US and bring colleges significant revenue.
In a WeChat chatroom, more than 70 holders of F-1 visas, both postgraduate and undergraduate students, said that the notices advised them to seek new visas if they wanted to travel to the US.
Many said that they were majoring in subjects such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
Some said they had received bachelor's degrees from Chinese universities with links to the People's Liberation Army.
Mr Zhao yesterday also accused the Australian Embassy in China of helping Mr Bill Birtles and Mr Michael Smith, who work for Australian media, to leave the country and "avoid China's investigation".
Their dramatic flight from China comes as tensions between China and Australia escalated in recent days, with the two sides accusing each other of jeopardising the safety of journalists.
The Chinese police last week told Mr Birtles, from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Mr Smith, from the Australian Financial Review, that they were barred from leaving the country and were wanted for questioning in relation to the case of Ms Cheng Lei - a Chinese-born Australian anchor for state-run broadcaster China Global Television Network - who is currently detained in China.
Mr Zhao said: "The Australian Embassy in China gave shelter to the relevant journalists (allowing them to) avoid China's investigation. This was blatant obstruction and interference in China's normal law enforcement."
REUTERS
