The Chinese government, has on Thursday, reacted to the cancellation of visas for over 1000 Chinese students by the President Donald Trump led administration.
The visa cancellation for over 1000 Chinese students, comes after the United States announced in a statement that those on the list posed a security risk or had ties to China’s military.
Speaking on Thursday 10th September 2020, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian, blast President Trump for the visa ban on the 1000 Chinese students, calling the move:
“outright political persecution and racial discrimination, which have seriously violated the human rights of Chinese students,” he said.
China also warned it reserved the right to take further action but did not elaborate.
Acting Head of the Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, accused China of abusing student visas to exploit American academia when he made the visa announcement on Wednesday, and said China was attempting to steal coronavirus research.
In July, the Justice Department announced an indictment of two Chinese nationals both in China for hacking governments, dissidents and private companies, including those engaged in COVID-19 vaccine research.
The indictment said the hackers operated both for their own profit and for the main Chinese intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security.
China has denied the allegations.
The visa action on the 1000 Chinese students was being taken under a May 29 proclamation by President Donald Trump in response to China’s curbs on Hong Kong’s autonomy, a State Department spokeswoman told Reuters.
The proclamation, which took effect June 1, targets an estimated 3,000 to 5,000 individuals affiliated to universities or entities in China who, according to the U.S., seek to acquire foreign technology to benefit the Chinese military.
Chinese students make up the largest portion of international students in the U.S, with some 360,000 attending American schools annually, generating around $14 billion in revenue for colleges — although the COVID-19 pandemic has severely disrupted returns to campus this Fall.