Educational Strain
Trump’s visa ban and pandemic response disrupt China-u.s. educational exchanges
The tensions between China and the U.S. in the past two years have spilled over into the educational realm. On June 1, certain groups of Chinese post-graduate students and post-doctoral researchers were banned from entering the U. S. on the allegation of acquiring “sensitive U.S. technologies and intellectual property,” in part to bolster the modernization and capability of the People’s Liberation Army, according to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump.
The New York Times estimated that about 3,000 to 5,000 people, accounting for about 1 percent of the Chinese students studying in the U.S., would be affected.
The new ban is stark political persecution and racial discrimination, which constitutes a grave violation of the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students and researchers in the U.S., according to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijiang. “It runs counter to the openness and freedom the U.S .claims to champion and the public commitment given by the U.S. leader,” Zhao said at a press conference in Beijing on June 1. “It goes against the trend of the times in international talent exchange. This will gravely impact the normal cultural and personnel exchange between the two countries.”
He urged the U.S. to stop using unfounded excuses to restrict and oppress Chinese students and researchers in the country.
“Our government has shifted from the principles of engagement for the last 40 years to principles that seem to want to restrict, control and confront,” said Michael Brzezinski, Dean of International Programs of Purdue University, at a webinar on June 24, which gathered professors and international relations experts to discuss current challenges to China-u.s. educational collaboration.
“We urge our leaders to further consider the extraordinary values our international scholars bring to advance our national interests through their important contributions at our colleges and universities and to allow them continued participation in our educational institutions,” Andrew Martin, Chancellor of Washington University at St. Louis, said at the event.
Politicized academia
Since the People’s Republic of China and the U. S. established diplomatic relations in 1979, the number of students from the Chinese mainland to the U.S. has surged. Currently, it is the largest source of international students in the U.S., accounting for nearly 370,000 of this group in 2019, according to Xinhua News Agency reports.
But the Trump administration’s broad antagonism toward China is causing uncertainties for educational exchanges between the two counties. Beginning in 2019, it has expanded the targets of its decoupling-fromChina strategy from business and technology to students and researchers, asking the immigration authorities to tighten Chinese student visa rules.
Actually, the growth rate for Chinese students at universities in the U.S. has declined in recent years amid reports of visa restrictions, according to the U.s.-based Institute of International Education.
Brzezinski said, “Administrators and faculty within higher education have often been apolitical, enjoying the benefits of the flow of talent to and from China. But it’s national policies of the governmental level that determine the flow of talent across national borders.”
“Unfortunately the academic community in America at the moment has relatively little influence on the regime and in Washington,” Philip Altbach, founding Director of the Center for International Higher Education at Boston College, said.
After the ban on Chinese graduate students and scholars, the Trump administration on June 22 dropped another bombshell by temporarily suspending work visas, which include J visas for exchange scholars. Such a sweeping policy, which is allegedly aimed at leading an America First recovery from the
pandemic, restricts a large number of foreign professionals, not limited to Chinese nationals, to work in the U.S.
Pandemic impact
The novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has also created challenges for Chinese students studying or planning to study in the U.S. Coronavirus-led delays in U.S. college entrance exams in China and indefinite travel restrictions are making them think twice about pursuing higher education on the other side of the Pacific. Their concerns also include the Trump administration’s ineffective response and anti-racism protests in the U.S.
“There is a general feeling among families that the U.S. may not be safe at the moment and I think those feelings particularly relating to the COVID-19 are largely justified,” Altbach said.
While China has had the pandemic under control, the U.S. continues to see single-day records of new COVID-19 cases, with over 50,000 infections reported on July 1. Many Chinese students who are already halfway through their studies in the U.S. and currently back in China are pondering if they should go back to the campus in the fall.
“My parents want me to stay until it is fully under control,” Jasmine Yin, a Chinese student studying in New York City, told Beijing Review. “I don’t know, probably I will take a year off.”
Some of them have been consulting with their schools on possibilities to study in partner universities in China without having to take a semester off.
Qing He, a consultant at Jinjilie, an overseas study consulting services agency in China, said in an article that the pandemic has reduced Chinese families’ enthusiasm for sending children abroad. The travel restrictions, the anti-asian sentiment in the U.S. and economic pressure after months of lockdown have all weighed on Chinese families’ decisions. At the end of March, the company predicted an 8-percent fall in the number of Chinese students applying for studying in the U.S. in the 2020-21 academic year and said the drop might be deeper if the epidemic couldn’t be brought under control in the U.S.
A Jinjilie report released in June gauged the sentiment among families that had plans to send their children abroad. “Many families held back their plans because they were concerned about the safety and the rising xenophobia in Western countries,” it said.
The uncertainties forward, from a highly possible second wave of coronavirus to the
U.S. domestic political situation after the presidential election in November, may be the new hurdles for studying in the U.S.
The positive factor
After countries around the world imposed lockdowns to contain the spread of the COVID-19, Zoom, a video conferencing app, has become popular among people working from home. Zoom’s founder, Eric Yuan, a Chinese American who owns about 20 percent of the multi-billion-dollar business, was born and raised in Shandong Province, east China. He went to the U.S. in 1997 and earned an MBA from Stanford University in 2006.
Another billionaire, Colin Huang, the founder of Pinduoduo, a Chinese ecommerce platform, recently became the second richest man in China after Tencent’s Pony Ma. Huang earned a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and then worked for Google for a decade before founding Pinduoduo in 2015.
Both Yuan and Huang are the beneficiaries of China-u.s. educational exchanges.
With China-u.s. relationship at its lowest point in decades, participants in the webinar agreed that higher education can be the glue to bring them together.
“We are educating a new generation of people who will not only contribute to China or the U.S. but to humankind,” Yawei Liu, Director of the China Program at the Carter Center, said.
There are a lot of misunderstandings given the cultural and institutional differences between China and the U.S., but Jia Qingguo, a professor and former dean of the School of International Studies at Peking University, stressed that educational exchanges help mutual understanding.
While the pandemic has created more setbacks for China-u.s. educational exchanges, Brzezinski thinks it might be an opportunity as well: “You will see a proliferation of virtual collaboration programs, probably because of COVID-19.”
The Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in HKSAR came into force in Hong Kong at 11:00 p.m. local time on June 30 upon its promulgation by the HKSAR Government in the gazette.
With 66 articles in six chapters, the law clearly defines the duties and government bodies of HKSAR for safeguarding national security and four categories of offences— secession, subversion, terrorist activities and collusion with a foreign country or external elements to endanger national security—and their corresponding penalties.
According to the law, the Central Government will set up an office in HKSAR for safeguarding national security. HKSAR will establish a committee for safeguarding national security under the supervision of and accountable to the Central Government. To be chaired by the HKSAR chief executive, the committee shall have a national security adviser designated by the Central Government. The Hong Kong Police will also set up a department for safeguarding national security, according to the law.
After the law was passed, the NPC Standing Committee consulted its HKSAR Basic Law Committee and the HKSAR Government, and adopted on the afternoon of June 30, by a unanimous vote, a decision to list the law in Annex III to the HKSAR Basic Law.
The newly adopted decision stipulates that the law shall be applied locally in HKSAR by way of promulgation by the region.
HKSAR Chief Executive Carrie Lam said in a statement that the HKSAR Government welcomes the passage of the law.
“I am confident that after the implementation of the national security law, the social unrest which has troubled Hong Kong people for nearly a year will be eased and stability will be restored, thereby enabling Hong Kong to start anew, focus on economic development and improve people’s livelihood,” she said.
Wide support
The law came after prolonged social unrest and escalating street violence had plunged Hong Kong into the gravest situation since its return to the motherland in 1997. Rampant activities of “Hong Kong independence” organizations and violent radicals as well as blatant interference by external forces have disrupted Hong Kong residents’ daily life and threatened their safety.
Addressing the closing meeting of the NPC Standing Committee session, Li Zhanshu, Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, said the unanimous passage of the law and the decision has reflected the common will of the Chinese people including Hong Kong compatriots.
Stressing that national security, social stability and the order of rule of law are the premises of the development of Hong Kong, Li said the legislation represents the aspirations of the people and an irresistible trend of the times.
In a statement, the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council voiced firm support for the law, calling it a milestone event that will usher in a turning point for Hong Kong to end chaos and bring back order.
In a separate statement, the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in HKSAR said the promulgation and implementation of the law on the occasion of the 23rd anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to the motherland is an event worth celebrating for all Chinese people, including Hong Kong compatriots.
Nearly 2.93 million Hong Kong residents earlier signed a petition in support of the national security legislation during an eight-day campaign starting May 24.
Both ‘sword’ and ‘guardian’
The Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office said in its statement that for a tiny number of people endangering national security, the law will be a “sharp sword” hanging over their heads.
But for the vast majority of Hong Kong residents including foreigners in Hong Kong, the law will be a “guardian” that protects their rights, freedoms and peaceful life.
According to the law, people convicted of national security crimes could face up to life imprisonment.
Convicted criminals will be disqualified from running for public office, and people in public office who are found guilty of such crimes will be removed from their posts.
The law shall apply to acts committed after its coming into force for the purpose of conviction and imposition of punishment, according to its provision.
Upon promulgation, the law will resolutely and effectively safeguard national security and ensure that the “one country, two systems” cause is steered toward the right direction, Li said.
The law will vigorously uphold the constitutional order and the order of rule of law in HKSAR, forestall and deter external interference, and safeguard Hong Kong’s fundamental, long-term and current interests, he said.
Global understanding
“We reiterate that Hong Kong is an inseparable part of China, that Hong Kong affairs are China’s internal affairs that brook no interference by foreign forces. We urge relevant sides to stop interfering in China’s internal affairs by using Hong Kong related issues,” a joint statement signed more than 50 countries at the 44th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council on June 30 said.
“Non-interference in internal affairs of sovereign states is an essential principle enshrined in the Charter of the United Nations and a basic norm of international relations.”
“In any country, the legislative power on national security issues rests with the state, which in essence is not a human rights issue and therefore not subject to discussion at the Human Rights Council,” a representative of Cuba read the joint statement on behalf of the signatories.
“We believe that every country has the right to safeguard its national security through legislation, and commend relevant steps taken for this purpose,” the statement said. “In this context, we welcome the adoption of the decision by China’s legislature to establish and improve a legal framework and enforcement mechanisms for HKSAR for the purpose of safeguarding national security, as well as China’s reaffirmation of adherence to the ‘one country, two systems’ guideline.”
It said this move is conducive to ensuring “one country, two systems” is steady and enduring, and that Hong Kong enjoys long- term prosperity and stability. The legitimate rights and freedom of Hong Kong residents can also be better exercised in a safe environment.