Washington (AP) – A group of Republicans of the Republicans presented laws on Friday to prevent Chinese students from studying in American schools, as some US legislature appeals to China because of national security concerns.
MP Riley Moore, Rw.Va., presented the legislative template with which Chinese citizens could receive visas that enable foreigners to travel to the United States to study or to participate in the exchange visitor programs. Five other Republicans sponsored the measure together.
By granting Chinese nationals such as Visa, the United States “invited” the Chinese communist party to spy on our military, to steal our intellectual property and to threaten national security, ”Moore said in a statement.
It is unlikely that the measure will be available and it has been criticized by organizations and scientists because the concerns that enemy political and rhetoric against Chinese students could harm the US interests.
“No policy should address individuals exclusively on the basis of their national origin,” said Fanta AW, Executive Director and CEO of NAFSA, an association of international educators.
“The production of international student-like the most tested and pursued non-immigrants in the United States to a scapegoat for xenophobic and anti-Chinese atmosphere is misconception and opposed to our national interest,” said AW.
The Chinese message did not immediately answer a message that was looking for a comment on legislation.
The Forum Asian American Scholars Forum said that such legislation would affect the talent pipeline of Asian American scientists, scientists and researchers who undermine the US leadership in science and innovation.
Despite the slim chance of the law to be approved, Yangyang Cheng, research scientist of the Paul Tsai China Center of the Yale Law, said that the draft law should “be seen as part of a more comprehensive efforts to restrict the academic freedom and the violation of the university in this country, to control what can be followed, which can be followed and the course To the classrooms and laboratories. ”. “.”
In the school year 2023-24, more than 277,000 Chinese students studied at US universities or a quarter of the total number of international students, as can be seen from an annual report on international students from the Institute of International Education. However, the number of Chinese students in the USA has decreased for years. Last year China lost its status as the top feeder country of international students to India.
In 2023, Florida passed a law that prohibits state universities from hiring students from China and six other countries for assistants and postdoc positions. It was challenged in court. Several US universities have ended academic partnerships with Chinese schools because the Republican legislature across national security concerns corresponds to the pressure of the Republican legislator.
The reactions in the social media of China on the recent legislation were different. Some who said that they recently received offers from American schools expressed concerns, others referred them up as “political show”, and some called it “another Chinese exclusion law”.
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The AP writer Didi Tang in Washington contributed to the report.
