China’s ambassador to the United States has come to the defence of the country’s students and academics, saying they have been “smeared” as a threat to national security.
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“A few individuals in the United States have seen Chinese students, scholars, and friendly organisations … as national security threats through a biased lens and have tried every means to smear and obstruct them,” Xie Feng said in a video message to the US-China Hong Kong Forum.
“People with vision in China and the US need to step forward to speak up against the wrong practices of stigmatising people-to-people exchanges, work together to remove stumbling blocks, and create a favourable atmosphere for supporting greater mutual understanding, exchanges and cooperation between all sectors of society in our two countries.”
His message to the event, organised by the non-profit China-United States Exchange Foundation, added that “realising the vision of helping each other succeed and prospering” required “joint efforts” and would not be “smooth sailing”.
The White House has sent out mixed messages about international students, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio threatening to “aggressively revoke” student visas in May.
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But that policy was quickly reversed, and in August President Donald Trump announced plans to allow 600,000 Chinese students into the US – more than double the current number.
Last week, Trump again defended foreign students, saying that cutting international enrolments in half would destroy US universities.