In 2019, international students made up 5.5% of the total number of students in US universities. Of this figure, 35% were Chinese. From 2008 to 2019, the tuition they paid generated approximately 15 billion US dollars per year for American colleges, which helped to subsidise American education. 

However, between April and September 2020, the US only issued 808 new visas to Chinese students, compared to 90,410 the year before. Why did the number of student visas granted to Chinese applicants fall by 99%? Why were so many students obliged to continue their education in China, even though they wanted to pursue the “American dream”? 

CHALLENGES FACED BY CHINESE STUDENTS

This can partly be explained by Presidential Proclamation 10043, issued by the Trump Administration on May 29th, 2020. The proclamation imposes restrictions on students in the People’s Republic of China (PRC)’s ability to obtain F or J visas, prohibiting their entrance to the US if they are currently, or in the past, been “employed by, studied at, or conducted research at or on behalf of… an entity in the PRC that implements or supports the PRC’s Military-Civil fusion strategy”. Reuters reports that the suspension could potentially impact between 3,000 to 5,000 Chinese students. Further, according to the Economist, the Proclamation, and the way in which the US government has treated the COVID-19 crisis as a whole, has had a significant impact on Chinese students wishing to study in the US.

First, it contributed to the wave of increasing bias against Asian people. Students reported they were often harassed during their stay in the US. They did not feel welcomed anymore by a country in which they had dreamed of living. Instead, they faced extra challenges, on top of difficulties with their visas. One student told the Associated Press, “I was insulted… That I graduated from this school means I am a spy? What’s the difference between this and racism?”. Then-President Trump’s social media remarks helped to foster this environment, referring to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus” or the “Kung flu”. Furthermore, some students were held for hours at airports in the US and interrogated, just to have their entry denied later. The Global Times reported that one student was kept for over 50 hours before being repatriated. Others had their visas revoked while still being in the country.

Further, this decision has affected American universities and colleges from an economic point of view. Chinese students' tuition generated 15 billion dollars in 2019 – more than what the Trump Administration has invested in the AstraZeneca vaccine. When the number of Chinese students fell by 99% in 2020, the earnings of US universities dropped accordingly – influencing the tuition fees for their students. This decline affected schools that did not have an international reputation and, as a result, were struggling to find and keep Chinese students on their campuses. Some of them tried to divert them on their satellite campuses, such as the New York University of Shanghai. Others are trying to give hybrid classes and to widen their online course offerings. However, many students are refusing to pay very high tuition fees just to stay in China and look at a screen all day long. This is one reason why the Hechinger Report’s analysis found that over 500 colleges and universities have begun to show warning signs of financial stress in two or more areas, such as enrollment, tuition revenue, and public funding.

TENSION BETWEEN CHINA AND THE U.S.

So why did the US government take such a drastic decision with such wide consequences, and endanger the educational exchange between the US and China? The tension between these two countries has been growing over the last 15 years. The US sees China as a rising power that could undermine the status quo, and thus, a threat to US hegemony. This pressure was the determinant of many crises between the two countries, with contests occurring over trades, human rights, technology, and intellectual property – these last two points being particularly relevant in explaining Proclamation 10043. 

The US has accused China of spying, and stealing its technology and intellectual property, which may explain the motivation behind targeting immigration from China. However, two years on from its issuing, the Proclamation remains controversial. On one hand, its supporters agree it was necessary for the security of the country. They believe that the ties to the Chinese military at those schools are strong. They are certain that the Chinese government plays a big role in selecting which students can study abroad. To their mind, these scholars may be sent overseas only to collect specific information. On the other hand, many students and researchers think it is too widely applied. It is often based on a suspicious atmosphere since most of the “wrongdoings” of the students cannot be verified.

Adding to the controversy, the Department of State declared it will not make the list of universities public, but stated that unique documents and research influenced it. One source is an Australian think tank, The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, who compiled a list of the schools with strong ties to the Chinese government. Their research also suggested that the goal of the students coming from those schools was to find employment in fields related to military technology, while hiding their connection to the Chinese military force. Obviously, the present strategy of military-civil fusion, which the US Department of State says is strongly encouraged by the PRC, reinforced this assumption.

All things considered, this growing strain between the two superpowers is causing lots of problems in the ordinary lives of their inhabitants. Chinese students cannot continue their education in the US, even though it is their right to do so. They are in the middle of a struggle between the US and China that is not doomed to disappear soon. They are the victims of an American policy against China: an outside factor in which they have no powers limits their own freedom.

Even US students are suffering as a result, and will continue to do so. At present, this policy is costing US universities large sums of money, as with every 1,000 Phds blocked from entering the US in a single year, there is a loss of 1 billion US dollars in tuition fees over the course of a decade.  In addition, since Chinese graduate students and researchers can still study in other countries, they will prefer to continue their education and start a working path in a place where they are feeling more welcomed. In this way, the US risks losing a high volume of potentially highly skilled employees. 

The Proclamation remains in force under the Biden administration, with the number of visas granted increasing in the past year. It remains to be seen if the current government will recognise the cost of the Proclamation and bring an end to this provision, or if the tension between the two countries will continue to undermine the education of many students. The answer is not certain, but it is clear that students have suffered as a result of the hostility between these two superpowers.

Bianca is a third year student, studying Politics, Philosophy and Economics (PPE) with a Double Degree between LUISS and Sciences Po. She is determined to study human rights for her graduate degree in order to work in the human rights field.