Trump’s attempt to calm foreign students adds to US visa confusion for Chinese
Trump says international students will be ‘fine’, but fails to clarify administration’s threat to crack down on Chinese studying in US
President Donald Trump’s comment that international students in the US would be “fine” has only added to the confusion about his administration’s stance, following controversy over an earlier announcement that it would “aggressively” cancel Chinese student visas.
“We just want to check out the individual students we have. And that’s true with all colleges,” he told reporters at the White House.
He said the US Department of State would also revise “visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications” from mainland China and Hong Kong.
But the scope of the visa crackdown remains unclear, with Rubio’s department refusing to specify the criteria for visa revocation or clarify what constitutes “critical fields” and how ties to China’s ruling party would be defined.
Beijing lodged formal protests and condemned the move as “politically motivated and discriminatory” on Thursday, amid signs of renewed tensions despite a 90-day tariff truce between the two countries.