US considers tighter rules for Chinese students
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration is considering new background checks and other restrictions on Chinese students in the United States over growing espionage concerns, US oficials and congressional sources said.
In June, the US State Department shortened the length of visas for Chinese graduate students studying aviation, robotics and advanced manufacturing to one year from ive.
US oficials said the goal was to curb the risk of spying and theft of intellectual property in areas vital to national security.
But now the Trump administration is weighing whether to subject Chinese students to additional vetting before they attend a US school.
The ideas under consideration, previouslyunreported,includechecksofstudent phone records and scouring of personal accounts on Chinese and US social media platforms for anything that might raise concerns about students’ intentions in the United States, including afiliations with government organisations, a US oficial and three congressional and university sources told Reuters.
US law enforcement is also expected to provide training to academic oficials on how to detect spying and cyber theft that it provides to people in government, a senior US oficial said.
“Every Chinese student who China sends here has to go through a party and government approval process,” one senior US oficial said.
“You may not be here for espionage purposes as traditionally deined, but no Chinese student who’s coming here is untethered from the state.”
The White House declined comment on the new student restrictions under review.
Asked what consideration was being given to additional vetting, a State De- partment oficial said: “The department helps to ensure that those who receive US visas are eligible and pose no risk to national interests.”
Thechinesegovernmenthasrepeatedly insisted that Washington has exaggerated the problem for political reasons.
China’s ambassador to the United States told Reuters the accusations were groundless and “very indecent.”
“Why should anybody accuse them as spies? I think that this is extremely unfair for them,” Ambassador Cui Tiankai said.
Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping are scheduled to meet at a G20 summit in Argentina this week.
Greater scrutiny of Chinese students would be part of a broader effort to confront Beijing over what Washington sees as the use of sometimes illicit methods for acquiring rapid technological advances that China has made a national priority.