“Economists do not like the prices not only because of the price itself, but because of the uncertainty it creates,” said Crimson Education, Chinese student of the Harvard Kennedy School and co-founder of the Consulting Consulting, says time. “It’s the same situation.”
The uncertainty with which Jiang is dealing with is his education: although his student visa has so far not been affected, the changing situation concerning the authorization to register Harvard and now new restrictions on Chinese students have made navigation on decisions around things like housing for the next school year difficult.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that the United States would “aggressively”, revoining Chinese student visas and “improve the exam” for continental China and Hong Kong. Rubio has given sparse details on what exactly the criteria would be, but said that it would include “those who have links with the Chinese Communist Party or study in critical fields”.
China condemned the decision on Thursday, the appellant “discriminatory”.
“The American decision … seriously deny the rights and legal interests of international students in China and disrupts the exchanges of people to the person between the two countries. China firmly opposed it and protested the United States about the decision, “said Chinese Ministry of Affairs, Mao Ning. “This politically motivated and discriminatory decision exposes American hypocrisy to freedom and openness. It will further damage the image and reputation of the United States itself. ”
The American move comes at a time when the Trump administration has imposed restrictions on sales software sales of flea and parts of reaction engine in China, and shortly after, warned that the sale of Huawei semiconductors “all over the world” would violate US export controls – repressing China to threaten legal measures. He also came in the midst of the war of the administration against the American colleges, which included the reduction of federal funding for a certain number of universities and the attempt to prevent Harvard University from registering from international students to the alleged non-compliance of the school with a list of requests.
The decision was celebrated by some. Ashley Moody, a republican senator from Florida, posted on X: “The United States is no longer in the field of spying.” Moody presented a bill in March to ban all Chinese students from the United States
Others, however, condemned this decision. “The wholesale revocation of student visas based on national origin – and without investigation – is xenophobic and erroneous”, the American Caucus of the Pacific Asia -Pacific led by Democrats has been published on X. “Set these students – many of whom want to learn in a free and democratic society – is not only short -fried but a stupidness of our values.”
Trump has already limited Chinese students
This policy “does not come from nowhere”, explains David Weeks, co-founder and head of the exploitation of Sunrise International, a consulting firm who advises universities abroad on the recruitment of Chinese students. “You have unfavorable policies that go back to the first term of President Donald Trump, according to Weeks.
In 2020, Trump’s administration implemented proclamation 10043, a restrictive visa policy on Chinese students and researchers with links with China’s “military” universities. About 1,000 Chinese scholars have revoked their visas under politics, which persisted under the Biden administration.
The new restrictions may seem more extensive, but it is “a lot of breasts”, says Weeks, adding that without more details, it does not seem to be substantially different from what has been in place for five years. “It is almost a national political posture. There are people in the State Department who may like to seem difficult for China, but this idea of limiting visas for students pursuing critical areas is not new. ”
The ambiguity around the new policy and other recent decisions has put some Chinese students in a precarious position.
The main change is that the criteria have been extended from the alleged military ties to links with the CCP, but indeed, according to Weeks, it will be logistically difficult to implement. A large number of Chinese citizens have links with the CCP: the party has an adhesion of around 100 million members, and even if someone is not a member, it is likely that they can be bound by someone they knew who is. But people join reasons beyond direct political participation. “To be a civil servant or work in a state company, it is almost compulsory to be in the party,” a member told AFP. “It’s like a diploma. He opens doors. “
In addition to that, “essentially all the departments of each Chinese university have a double system of governance, where you have the dean and you have the secretary of the Communist Party,” said Weeks. Students may also have joined the young Communist League at some point, but that is almost like joining the Boy Scouts, he adds.
“The party is omnipresent in many Chinese universities,” says Weeks, but that does not mean that students are actively involved. “The effort to try to disentangle and identify who has a party affiliation is practically extremely difficult.”
If it is a question of national security, says Jiang, then it may not be the most effective decision “to continue anyone with apparent affiliations with the CCP because” you would have targeted a whole bunch of people who have nothing to do with policy or national security issues. “”
“It is possible that students can be vindictively targeted, especially if they are in a university like Harvard who fought with the administration,” says Weeks. “There is certainly a risk that we can have a kind of mcCarthyist scan.”
American risks of higher education to lose the basis of critical international students
Chinese students represent almost a quarter – or more than 277,000 – of all international students in the United States, the second highest nationality behind Indian students, according to an open door opening report in 2024. Many of these students are “financially quite autonomous”, says Weeks, which can be a significant contribution to university income. Chinese students also tend to have solid history in STEM and are generally very motivated by the school plan, he adds. They can be “a critical rescue buoy for certain programs”.
“There is simply no market as large and rich and as much prepared on the school level as China,” says Weeks.
Right now, among Chinese students and their families, there are concerns, says Weeks, but not yet panic.
American universities have long owned a “huge amount of soft power,” he adds. “In China, there is still a perception that certain other countries are easy, because they do not have as selective admission processes as the United States, diplomas are shorter and therefore less rigorous.” Many American universities, even non -elite, have a kind of brand recognition among Chinese employers, while employment opportunities in major American cities are “unprecedented”.
Chinese families also looked at Trump’s other policies on roller coaster, including imposing heavy prices on China and the rest of the world before retiring. “I think that Chinese families see that there is sometimes a lot of noise and boastful, so the end result is not ideal,” says Weeks, “but it is certainly not apocalyptic either.”
However, if punitive policies to Chinese international students persist, students can turn to alternative destinations, according to experts.
Find out more: These Asian universities seek to attract Harvard transfers while Trump targets international students
“Chinese parents consider this environment as a toxic uncertainty,” says Weeks. “Chinese parents really gravitate to the rule of law in many of these English -speaking countries, so when they see that the rule of law in certain places is threatened, this concerns them deeply.”
The move could erode confidence between the United States and China
The attitude of the Trump administration towards Chinese students is far from the vision of the counterpart of the Chinese president Xi Jinping, who has for years for more American students to come to China. In 2023, XI launched an initiative to call upon 50,000 Americans for five -year exchanges and studies. Last year, 16,000 Americans participated.
“It is recognized that when you have no exchanges from people to the person, you lose an important rampart for populist rhetoric on both sides,” said Weeks. “China thinks that we need more, no less, of exchange if we have disagreements.”
On Wednesday evening, the same day that Rubio announced the decision, the Chinese ambassador Xie Feng praised the exchanges of people to people as fundamental to American-Chinese relations.
“These are ties of people to people who invigorate China-US relations,” he said during his embassy. “We warmly welcome all American friends to travel to China, shop in China, succeed in China and participate in Chinese modernization. Come see the country with your own eyes. “
Jiang says that when he thinks of his peers, friends and teachers, he feels welcome in the United States, but these administration movements have highlighted the rhetoric that makes him less accepted.
Some experts say that the administration’s decision will lead to a confidence erosion between the two countries, which could ultimately have an impact on commercial negotiations – a key priority for the Trump administration.
“This policy is an unjust treatment of Chinese citizens, who will intensify diplomatic tensions between China and the United States, undermining the atmosphere of relaxation that had emerged following Geneva talks,” said Sun Chenghao, member of the Center for International Security and Strategy of the University of Tsinghua, Sun, the Sun, Morning post in southern ChinaReferring to the agreement between the United States and China to temporarily reduce prices.
The secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, said in an interview on Thursday that commercial discussions with China are “a little stalled” and called on a call between Trump and XI – who spoke for the last time in January before the inauguration of Trump.
“I think China has clearly indicated that it would like to unravel security disagreements and trade … exchanges from people to the population,” said Weeks. Although he does not think that the education policies of the Trump administration will ultimately know the commercial negotiations, he adds: “I do not know if Trump or Rubio really care what student of what the province is studying in the American university, but I think they see international students unfortunately not as humans, but as negotiation chips.”
