China Accuses US of Targeting and Harassing Chinese Students: Spokesman Urges End to ‘Spying’ Agenda
Chinese students arriving in the United States have been subjected to harassment, interrogation, and even deportation in recent months, according to China’s foreign ministry. At least eight students with valid travel documents were allegedly targeted by US authorities at Dulles International Airport since the end of November. The spokesman for China’s foreign ministry, Wang Wenbin, accused US law enforcement officials of using national security as an excuse to restrict visiting students and attempting to turn some of them into spies.
Wang condemned the actions of US law enforcement officials, claiming they made unabashed attempts to induce and sway the targeted students, which he said directly threatened China’s national security. He described the US actions as unprincipled and discriminatory, hiding behind the guise of law enforcement while displaying strong ideological bias.
These allegations emerged following reports from Chinese nationals who experienced mistreatment upon their arrival in the US to pursue their studies. Students claim they were repeatedly questioned about their political backgrounds and research activities, and some were even told that their entry was contingent on providing insider information about the Chinese government.
Wang criticized US authorities for weaponizing academic research and overstretching the concept of national security. He accused them of persecuting Chinese students and poisoning the atmosphere of bilateral people-to-people exchanges. China has lodged a formal complaint against the United States for allegedly blocking Chinese students at the border, violating a consensus reached between Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Joe Biden during their recent summit.
The controversy surrounding the treatment of Chinese students at Dulles airport intensified earlier this month when China Science Daily published the story of a PhD candidate who was deported after being subjected to eight hours of interrogation and 12 hours of solitary confinement. The student was also subjected to a body search. Upon her return to China, she discovered that 10 other Chinese students had similar experiences. They were predominantly interrogated about undergraduate scholarships from the China Scholarship Council, as well as their involvement in confidential research.
The Chinese embassy in Washington has advised prospective students to approach entering the US via Dulles airport with caution. The institutions attended by the targeted students included prestigious universities such as Yale, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Virginia. Their chosen fields of study ranged from preventive medicine and statistics to material physical chemistry, communication engineering, German, and business administration.
In the latter half of last year, China’s Ministry of State Security alleged that US intelligence recruited several Chinese nationals studying or working as visiting scholars in the US, Japan, and Italy. The ministry claimed these individuals were offered gifts and taken on outings as inducements to spy against their own country.
Wang and the Chinese embassy have accused the US of violating the agreement reached between Xi and Biden, who emphasized the importance of restoring societal interactions during their November summit. Both leaders pledged to encourage educational, student, youth, cultural, sports, and business exchanges between their nations.
In response, Wang called on the US to immediately halt the use of national security as a pretext to suppress and restrict Chinese students. He warned that China would take resolute measures to safeguard national security and protect the rights and interests of Chinese citizens.
While the number of Chinese students studying in the US slightly decreased last year, China still outnumbers any other foreign group studying in the country. According to data from the Institute of International Education, in the school year ending in September 2023, there were 289,526 Chinese students in the US – the lowest since 2013-14. In contrast, the number of American students in China rebounded to 700 last year after a sharp decline to just 350 in 2022.
The ongoing treatment of Chinese students by US authorities threatens to strain already tense relations between the two countries. As the accusations and counter-accusations continue, it remains to be seen how the situation will be resolved and whether both nations can fulfill their commitments to fostering educational and cultural exchanges.
