China urges U.S. to stop suppressing Chinese students in name of national security

China on Thursday urged the U.S. to stop suppressing Chinese students in the U.S. in the name of national security.

The remarks were made by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin at a regular press briefing in response to a report that the U.S. has recently interrogated and inspected the portable devices of several Chinese students entering the U.S., with some students having their visas canceled and not allowed to enter the U.S. for five years.

For a long time, the U.S. has interrogated, detained and repatriated Chinese students with valid U.S. visas and certificates, which is motivated by political purposes, said Wang.

Noting there were dozens of Chinese nationals going to the U.S., including students, being forcibly repatriated by the U.S. side every month recently, Wang called the U.S.'s approach discriminatory, selective and politically motivated law enforcement actions, which China firmly opposes.

He said the U.S. promulgated the so-called Proclamation 10043, abused the concept of national security, politicized academic research and repeatedly repatriated Chinese students, seriously undermining the lawful rights and interests of Chinese students studying in the U.S., violating the consensus reached by the two heads of state on facilitating people-to-people exchanges, as well as the common aspiration of the two peoples to carry out friendly exchanges.

Proclamation 10043 was signed by the Trump administration in June 2020, which targets Chinese students and scholars in specific professions and suspends or restricts their entry into the U.S.

Wang urged the U.S. to genuinely welcome Chinese students as it has said, withdraw the biased and discriminatory Proclamation 10043, safeguard the safety and legitimate rights and interests of Chinese scholars and students in the U.S., and take practical actions to fulfill its commitment to support and facilitate China-U.S. people-to-people exchanges.

China will continue to take necessary measures to defend Chinese citizens' lawful rights and interests and remind the students heading for the U.S. to be mindful of such risks, the spokesperson said.

(Cover: A file photo of Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin. /Chinese Foreign Ministry)