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Opinion | Coronavirus and US-China tensions leave students abroad short on options
- Uncertainty over universities’ Covid-19 response and crumbling US-China relations have international students on both sides of the Pacific searching for answers. Educational institutions and governments must work together to find solutions
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Yale College undergraduate David Guo returned to Beijing in April after the US university closed its campus. But as September approaches, Guo and other Chinese students are worried over whether they can attend the fall semester. While some US universities have decided to resume in-person classes, continue virtual classes or adopt a hybrid option, Yale and others have yet to choose.
With borders closed, flights curtailed and the Covid-19 pandemic still uncontrolled, the next semester remains an uncertainty. The delay has troubled many international students, who are concerned about travel and financial plans .
Universities should not be blamed for hesitating while the pandemic changes every day. And even if conditions are safe enough for US universities to welcome back students by fall, many Chinese students fear not being able to travel.
At the height of the outbreak in Wuhan in February, US President Donald Trump imposed a temporary entry ban on travellers from China, barring entry for foreigners who had visited the country within the past 14 days. While China, among others, has contained the virus better than the US, these restrictions remain in place.
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Coronavirus: China bans most foreign arrivals to block imported cases of Covid-19
Coronavirus: China bans most foreign arrivals to block imported cases of Covid-19
To prevent imported cases, China shut its borders to foreign passport holders in March. It began enforcing the so-called “Five Ones” policy – limiting the number of international flights into China – to the chagrin of Chinese nationals stuck abroad and foreigners living in China.
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