The Chinese government has protested to Washington over the treatment of Chinese arriving to study in the US, saying some have been interrogated for hours, had their electronic devices checked and in some cases were forcibly deported from the nation.
Chinese Ambassador to the US Xie Feng (謝鋒) said dozens of Chinese holding valid visas have been denied entry over the past few months when returning to school from overseas travel or visiting relatives in China, a post on the Chinese embassy Web site said.
“When they landed at the airport, what awaited them was an eight-hour-long interrogation by officers who prohibited them from contacting their parents, made groundless accusations against them, and even forcibly repatriated them and banned their entry,” he said on Sunday at an event at the embassy on student exchanges. “This is absolutely unacceptable.”
Photo: AP
The protest comes as the US and China try to boost student and other exchanges to shore up their relations, which have turned confrontational over trade, technology, human rights and, more fundamentally, the future direction of the world.
Nearly 290,000 Chinese students are in the US, about one-third of the foreign students in the nation, the embassy post said.
China has more than 1.3 million students studying abroad, more than any other nation, it said.
In a separate online statement, the Chinese embassy said it had made “solemn representations” to the US government about the treatment of students arriving at Dulles airport in Washington.
The statement reminded Chinese students to be cautious when entering via the airport.
It was not clear whether Xie’s comments referenced cases only at Dulles, or at other entry points as well.
China’s media have reported at least three cases since November last year at Dulles where Chinese students lost their valid student visas, received a five-year entry ban and were repatriated following long hours of interrogations.
They were asked if their studies were financed by the Chinese government, if they were members of the Chinese Communist Party or its youth arm, and if their research was linked to the Chinese government, the Chinese military or key state laboratories. The students were headed to the US National Cancer Institute, Yale University and the University of Maryland.
At least eight Chinese entering the US with valid documents were repatriated since November last year, the media reports said.
The US Department of Homeland Security and the US embassy in Beijing did not respond to requests for comment.
The Chinese embassy statement said the affected students had their electronic devices checked, were prohibited from communicating with anyone outside and, in some cases, held for more than 10 hours. It said the actions of border control officers “have had a serious impact on the studies of international students from China and caused great psychological harm.”
The statement also said that the actions ran counter to the agreement between US President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) at their meeting in November last year to promote people-to-people exchanges.
The Philippine Department of Justice yesterday labeled Vice President Sara Duterte the “mastermind” of a plot to assassinate the nation’s president, giving her five days to respond to a subpoena. Duterte is being asked to explain herself in the wake of a blistering weekend press conference where she said she had instructed that Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr be killed should an alleged plot to kill her succeed. “The government is taking action to protect our duly elected president,” Philippine Undersecretary of Justice Jesse Andres said at yesterday’s press briefing. “The premeditated plot to assassinate the president as declared by the self-confessed mastermind
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
CONSPIRACIES: Kano suspended polio immunization in 2003 and 2004 following claims that polio vaccine was laced with substances that could render girls infertile Zuwaira Muhammad sat beside her emaciated 10-month-old twins on a clinic bed in northern Nigeria, caring for them as they battled malnutrition and malaria. She would have her babies vaccinated if they regain their strength, but for many in Kano — a hotbed of anti-vaccine sentiment — the choice is not an obvious one. The infants have been admitted to the 75-bed clinic in the Unguwa Uku neighbourhood, one of only two in the city of 4.5 million run by French aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF). Kano has the highest malaria burden in Nigeria, but the city has long