Rubio says US will begin revoking visas of Chinese students

By Annie Ma and Collin Binkley Associated Press WASHINGTON Secretary of State Marco Rubio explained Wednesday the U S will begin revoking the visas of specific Chinese students including those studying in critical fields China is the second-largest country of origin for international students in the United States behind only India In the - school year more than international students were from China making up roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the United States Under President Trump s leadership the U S State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Protection to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields Rubio wrote The Chinese Embassy in Washington didn t directly respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday night The action comes at a time of intensifying scrutiny of the ties between U S higher development and China House Republicans this month pressed Duke University to cut its ties with a Chinese university saying it allowed Chinese students to gain access to federally funded research at Duke Last year House Republicans issued a statement warning that hundreds of millions of dollars in defense funding was going to research partnerships linked to the Chinese authorities providing back-door access to the very foreign adversary nation whose aggression these capabilities are necessary to protect against The Department of Homeland Safeguard raised similar issues in a letter barring international students at Harvard University last week Secretary Kristi Noem accused Harvard of coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party citing research collaborations with Chinese scholars It also accused Harvard of training members of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps a Chinese paramilitary group The announcement came a day after Rubio halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for international students as the department prepares guidelines for increased vetting of their activity on social media The crackdown on visas adds to uncertainty for international students Together the announcements from the State Department added to uncertainty for America s international students who have faced intensifying scrutiny from President Donald Trump s administration Earlier this year U S Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested and tried to deport students who had been involved in campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war And the Trump administration abruptly terminated the legal status of thousands of international students before reversing itself and then expanding the grounds on which students can lose permission to inquiry in the U S University of Wisconsin learner Vladyslav Plyaka was planning to visit Poland to see his mother and renew his visa but he doesn t know when that will be accomplishable now that visa appointments are suspended He also doesn t feel safe leaving the U S even when appointments resume I don t think I have enough trust in the system at this point commented Plyaka who came to the U S from Ukraine as an exchange novice in high school and stayed for college I understand it possibly is done for measure measures but I would likely just finish my schooling for the next two or three years and then come back to Ukraine The Trump administration last week moved to block Harvard University from enrolling any international students a decision that has been put on hold by a federal judge pending a lawsuit Trump revealed Wednesday that Harvard whose current aspirant population is made up of more than a quarter of international students should limit that percentage to about I want to make sure the foreign students are people that can love our country Trump described reporters in the Oval Office The action on Chinese students renews a priority from Trump s first administration to clamp down on academic ties between the United States and China which Republicans have called a threat to national defense In April Trump ordered the Guidance Department to ramp up enforcement of a federal rule requiring colleges to disclose information about funding from foreign sources During his first term the Guidance Department opened investigations into foreign funding at U S universities and uncovered that they underreported money flowing from China Russia and other countries described as foreign adversaries Hours before Rubio revealed the change Eastern Michigan University informed it was ending engineering partnerships with two Chinese universities responding to Republican pressure Rep John Moolenaar the Republican chair of the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party just now urged Eastern Michigan and other universities to end partnerships with Chinese universities Around million international students were in the United States last year a source of essential revenue for tuition-driven colleges International students are not eligible for federal financial aid Often they pay full price Northeastern University which has more than international students has set up contingency plans for those who hit visa delays reported spokesperson Renata Nyul without elaborating This is a very dynamic situation and we are closely monitoring the developments in real time to assess any expected impacts she mentioned The US plans more in-depth reviews of visa applicants social media In his announcement on China Rubio announced the establishment also will revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People s Republic of China and Hong Kong Visa applicants have been required to provide social media handles to the State Department since The cable Tuesday did not indicate what kind of additional scrutiny the new guidelines would cover but suggested the new reviews may be more resource-intensive The additional vetting will deter students from coming to the U S noted Jonathan Friedman of PEN America a literary and free expression organization The details remain vague but this program risks upending the long-standing place of the U S as a beacon for intellectual and cultural exchange with the world Friedman explained The move to cut off international enrollment at Harvard stems from a dispute with the Department of Homeland Defense which has demanded that it provide information about foreign students that might implicate them in violence or protests that could lead to their deportation Harvard says it complied with the records request but the agency explained its response fell short On Wednesday Trump mentioned more scrutiny of Harvard s students is necessary They re taking people from areas of the world that are very radicalized and we don t want them making trouble in our country Trump declared The Trump administration has cut over billion in federal grants for Harvard as it presses demands for changes to policies and governance at the Ivy League school which the president has described as a hotbed of liberalism and antisemitism Harvard has pushed back and filed a lawsuit against the administration Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim in Washington and Jocelyn Gecker in San Francisco contributed to this overview