After the US government’s announcement that it will crack down on the issuing of visas for those engaging in “censorship” of US citizens, Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, says that the Trump administration will also “begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.”
Current estimates say there are in the region of 280,000 Chinese students currently in the US amid concerns of the influence of communist reach in the US, which Republicans have called a threat to national security.
Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, President Trump said, “I want to make sure that the foreign students are people that can love our country.”
Spokeswoman for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mao Ning, sharply criticised the decision saying, “The U.S. must protect the lawful rights and interests of international students from all countries, including China.”
“China firmly opposes U.S. decision to revoke Chinese student visas.” she said, adding that the move “exposes the US’ hypocrisy over freedom and openness,”.
Announcing the crackdown on visas on a broader scale earlier this week, Rubio stated, “Foreigners who work to undermine the rights of Americans should not enjoy the privilege of traveling to our country. Whether in Latin America, Europe, or elsewhere, the days of passive treatment for those who work to undermine the rights of Americans are over.”
In a press release, The Department of State said, “Free speech is among the most cherished rights we enjoy as Americans. This right, legally enshrined in our constitution, has set us apart as a beacon of freedom around the world.”
It said that even as action to reject censorship at home, “we see troubling instances of foreign governments and foreign officials picking up the slack. In some instances, foreign officials have taken flagrant censorship actions against U.S. tech companies and U.S. citizens and residents when they have no authority to do so.”
Rubio said it was “unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil.”
Turning his attention to tech platforms, he said that it was also “unacceptable” for foreign officials to “demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States.”
The Trump administration “will not tolerate encroachments upon American sovereignty, especially when such encroachments undermine the exercise of our fundamental right to free speech.” he said.
In a press release, The Department of State said, “Free speech is among the most cherished rights we enjoy as Americans. This right, legally enshrined in our constitution, has set us apart as a beacon of freedom around the world.”
It said that even as action to reject censorship at home, “we see troubling instances of foreign governments and foreign officials picking up the slack. In some instances, foreign officials have taken flagrant censorship actions against U.S. tech companies and U.S. citizens and residents when they have no authority to do so.”
Rubio said it was “unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil.”
Turning his attention to tech platforms, he said that it was also “unacceptable” for foreign officials to “demand that American tech platforms adopt global content moderation policies or engage in censorship activity that reaches beyond their authority and into the United States.”
The Trump administration “will not tolerate encroachments upon American sovereignty, especially when such encroachments undermine the exercise of our fundamental right to free speech.” he said.
The State Department said that this visa restriction policy is “pursuant to Section 212(a)(3)(C) of the Immigration and Nationality Act, which authorizes the Secretary of State to render inadmissible any alien whose entry into the United States “would have potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences for the United States.” Certain family members may also be covered by these restrictions.”
In April President Trump said that the Department of Education had opened investigations on 19 campuses from 2019-2021. He said this had led universities “to report $6.5 billion in previously undisclosed foreign funds.”
He accused the subsequent Biden administration of ‘undoing’ this work by “moving the Department of Education’s specialized investigatory work on foreign funds to a unit ill-equipped to perform it, undermining investigations, and hindering public access to information on foreign gifts and contracts.”
Trump insisted that it is the “policy” of his administration to “end the secrecy surrounding foreign funds in American educational institutions” in order to “protect the marketplace of ideas from propaganda sponsored by foreign governments, and safeguard America’s students and research from foreign exploitation.”