Rattled by visa risks, Chinese students rethink US study plans
Advertisement
In the past few months, media reports have emerged of hundreds of international students from dozens of American universities having their visas revoked for no apparent reason. They may face deportation under Trump's aggressive push on illegal immigrants.
In a few cases, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducted raids at campuses across the country, arresting international students.
01:39
Trump says China's talks with Vietnam are probably intended to 'screw' US
Trump says China's talks with Vietnam are probably intended to 'screw' US
The atmosphere amid the tit-for-tat tariff war between Washington and Beijing has further declined as China's countermeasures extend beyond trade.
Chinese authorities last week issued warnings to people planning to travel or study in America 'due to the deterioration of Sino-US economic and trade relations, and the domestic security situation in the US'.
Since Trump started his second term, there has been apparent panic among Chinese parents who had planned to send their children abroad for education, with some changing their attitudes towards studying in the US, according to Shanghai-based study-abroad agent Yulin, who asked that only her given name be used.
Advertisement
She said the parents of applicants for overseas study had 'clearly' stated that their children's 'preparations should switch from Advanced Placement (AP) curriculum to International Baccalaureate (IB) or A-level'.
The AP curriculum and exams are usually used for applying to universities in the United States, while the IB and A-level are used for Europe, including Britain.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
HKFP
an hour ago
- HKFP
Beijing hails improving Vatican ties after Pope Leo names first Chinese bishop
Beijing hailed on Thursday improving ties with the Vatican after the first appointment of a Chinese bishop under Pope Leo XIV, signalling the new pontiff's support for a controversial accord on nominations struck by his predecessor. The Holy See expressed 'satisfaction' on Wednesday at the recognition by China of the appointment of Joseph Lin Yuntuan as auxiliary bishop of Fuzhou, capital of eastern Fujian province. The pope made the nomination on June 5. Beijing's foreign ministry said the naming of the first Chinese bishop under the new pope had 'enhanced understanding and mutual trust through constructive dialogue' with the Vatican. 'China is willing to work together with the Vatican to promote the continuous improvement of China–Vatican relations,' foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a regular news briefing. The Vatican and China do not have formal diplomatic relations because the Holy See recognises Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as its own territory. However, they agreed in a historic deal in 2018 to let both sides have a say in the naming of bishops in China, home to about 12 million Catholics. The deal — the text of which has never been made public — has drawn criticism within the Church, with some seeing it as allowing the Communist Party government a stranglehold over China's Catholics. The deal was renewed several times as Pope Francis sought to make inroads for the Church in China, most recently in October 2024 for four years. 'With the joint efforts of both sides, the provisional agreement on the appointment of bishops has been smoothly implemented,' Lin Jian said.
Asia Times
2 hours ago
- Asia Times
Europe perfectly placed to lead a world abandoned by US
I believe we Europeans feel far too safe. Europe's political and economic leadership in the world, which was still unchallenged at the beginning of the century, has long since ceased to exist. Will the dominant cultural influence of Europe be maintained? I think not, unless we defend it and adjust ourselves to new conditions; history has shown that civilisations are all too perishable. It is astonishing how much these words used in 1956 by Konrad Adenauer, one of the founding fathers of the European Union, still sound valid today. They perfectly define the current state of the union. Europeans are still struggling to adjust to new conditions – and the conditions to which they need to adjust also continue to change dramatically. The battle for technological leadership is the current version of this struggle. Success in this domain could transform Europe, yet the continent remains complacent about its decline into backwardness. The European Commission itself calculates that of the 19 digital platforms that have more than 45 million EU users, only one (Zalando) is from the EU. Information is (economic and political) power and losing control means to gradually lose both market share and the ability to protect European democracies. Brussels has produced a mass of regulation on digital services, yet American digital platforms are getting away with what European leaders themselves call the manipulation of democratic elections, with very little repercussions. Elon Musk's X, was banned in Brazil for less – refusing to ban accounts accused of spreading misinformation. This decline, however, has been slow enough to lull European leaders into complacency about the future. Meanwhile, Donald Trump has a point when he laments that the European Union has been slow to engage in the negotiations he imposed on trade. Indeed, even on trade – one of the very few areas in which the European Union has a mandate from the member states to deal directly with third parties – progress is generally stuttering. The commissioner in charge has to constantly find a common denominator with the agendas of 27 member states, each of which has a different industrial agenda. Europe's decision-making processes are sub-optimal. Indeed, they were built for a different age. There is no shared voice on foreign policy – the EU has been able to say far less on Gaza than individual countries like Spain or the UK, for example. This may have the practical consequence of eroding the 'moral leadership' that should still be Europe's soft advantage. Europe's failure to respond to real-world changes is due to sub-optimal institutional settings. However, the current paralysis in the face of a clear need for action may be due to an even more fundamental question of trust in its own capabilities. On one hand, there still seems room for complacency. As Stanley Pignal, the Charlemagne columnist for The Economist, recently put it, Europe can take a moderate amount of satisfaction from its continued status as a place where people are free to pursue 'life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.' Yet, it is evident that the institutions needed to concretely achieve those objectives are crumbling: healthcare systems and welfare; robust and independent media; energy and military autonomy in a world without order. On the other hand, Europe is increasingly resigned. A global poll taken by Gallup International shows that when responding to the question 'do you think that your children will live better than you?' seven of the most pessimistic countries of the world are from the EU. Only 16% of Italians and 24% of French respondents answered 'yes' to this question. According to Ipsos, less than half of young Europeans feel prepared to enter the job market. And they blame the education system for that. The picture may well be even worse now – this survey was taken in 2019, before the pandemic, war in Europe and, more importantly, AI made the picture even more uncertain. Europe has no alternative, as even far-right and far-left parties seem to acknowledge. Note that France's Rassemblement National and Italy's Lega no longer talk about exiting the EU but about changing it from the inside. Individual nation-states simply do not have the minimum scale to even try to take leadership in a world looking for a new order. In a world abandoned by the US, Europe stands a real chance. However, it urgently needs to be creative enough to imagine new mechanisms through which EU institutions take decisions and EU citizens have their say. This, in turn, requires an entire society to somehow recover the reasonable hope that decline is not inevitable (although we also must be aware that it may even nastily accelerate). Finally, young people are absolutely crucial in the process. The rhetoric of 'listening to them' must now be replaced by a call for them to govern. They are today what Karl Marx would have probably defined as a class – with very specific demographic, cultural, economic and linguistic characteristics. These must be turned into a political agenda and a new vision of what Europe of the future could look like. Francesco Grillo is academic fellow, Department of Social and Political Sciences, Bocconi University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Asia Times
2 hours ago
- Asia Times
Harvard battle is Trump's 'Mao moment'
During the 1966-1976 Cultural Revolution, Mao Zedong pushed for the closure of Chinese universities, seeing higher education as little more than a breeding ground for counterrevolutionary bourgeois intellectuals. After closing for a period, China's universities reopened on a limited basis from 1970, with selection criteria based on class background, revolutionary devotion and connections to the Communist Party. It was not until 1977 that the national university entrance exam ( gaokao ) was reinstated and a merit system put back in place. This period had been China's 'Mao moment' in higher education, but Mao's historic mistake appears to be repeating itself in the US today. Imperial China had a sophisticated system of examinations (kējǔ, 科举) for citizens to reach the status of civil servant, or mandarin. These tests date back to the 7th century, under the Sui dynasty (581-618), and lasted until 1905. Depending on the period, the exams lasted from one to three days. Candidates were locked in a room, identified by a number, and their tests were copied by a third party so that their identity could not be recognised by their handwriting. All this was to ensure a fair and impartial contest for candidates whose futures were at stake. MIT professor Yasheng Huang says that if he had to highlight one fundamental difference between China and other civilisations, it would be the existence of these imperial examinations. He adds that they were both a blessing and a curse. He also points out that they are directly to blame for the state's ongoing monopolisation of human talent in China. Put simply, the best and brightest became mandarins under this system. By depriving society of access to the best talent, the state also denied its people the chance of having any kind of organised religion, commerce or intelligentsia. For Huang, the imperial examinations were a significant cause of the decline of collective social action in China, one of the distinctive features of a civil society. This is reflected in the title of his 2024 book 'The Rise and Fall of the EAST', where EAST is not a compass point but an acronym for China's defining features: Exams, Autocracy, Stability and Technology. 'The 'Chinese phenomenon' is why this ancient civilization with a long history of more than 2,000 years has declined in the modern era. Why is it lagging behind the modern nations of the world?' This question was posed in 1991 by the Chinese politician and intellectual Wang Huning, in his book 'America against America'. Ever since Deng Xiaoping came to power in 1978, it became increasingly clear to China that its progress depended on raising its population's education level, especially after the ravages of the Maoist Cultural Revolution. To do this, China created the C9 League in 2009. Composed of nine universities and similar to the American Ivy League, its members account for 10% of China's national research budget, 3% of its total number of researchers, and 20% of published studies. When I spoke of 'barbarians' in my 2024 book 'China for the New Barbarians', (Nola editores, 2024), I did so to call attention to the fact that there is a certain ignorance when the West speaks about China. However, the Trump Administration's ongoing attacks against Harvard, one of the world's most renowned universities, can only be described as barbaric. Last week, Harvard was barred from enrolling international students on the grounds of alleged leftist indoctrination and anti-Semitism. It has also revoked student visas and, as if that were not enough, it has demanded that universities hand over information on students who have participated in student protests. Students in Harvard protesting against President Donald J. Trump. Pietrorizzatoph/Shutterstock What the Trump Administration wants is for Harvard to cease foreign admissions, a move that would lock out 6,500 students. In addition to denying Harvard access to top international talent, it would also inflict enormous damage to the ever-weakening concept of the 'American spirit', made up of democratic values, freedom, generosity, equality of opportunity, universal education, courage and leadership. The measure has been temporarily blocked by a district judge, though this may not count for much – the Trump Administration has already set a precedent of disputing or ignoring court orders. The situation is so dire that Jerome Powell – the chair of the Federal Reserve who was appointed by Trump during his first term – has been unable to keep quiet. Addressing Princeton University students at the May 2025 commencement speech, he stressed that American universities are the envy of the world and a crucial asset for the US to continue to lead in scientific innovation and economic dynamism. Powell's speech to Princeton graduates in May 2025. Source: Princeton University, YouTube. Powell has himself been a target of Trump's criticism. In response to Powell's refusal to lower interest rates – which he has kept between 4.25% and 4.5% to contain inflation – the president has called him 'Mr Too Late' and 'Major loser.' The world watches in astonishment as the US federal administration attempts to dismantle the country's university system, which for decades has been one of the US's poles of attraction, and a bulwark of its economic and technological success. This was perhaps best expressed by Oriaku, a Nigerian taxi driver I met back in the nineties who ferried me and my colleague Juan Gordon around Lagos. He told us about his dream of sending his children to Harvard, and when Juan commented that this would be expensive, he wisely replied, 'if you think education is expensive, try ignorance.' 'Harvard, Harvard,' Oriaku continued, 'that's the only reason I work myself to the bone.' Moves are already being made elsewhere to pick up the slack and welcome academics. The Hong Kong government, for instance, has called on its universities to attract the foreign talent that the US now wants to reject. Meanwhile, the Chinese can only smirk: they already lived through Mao's brutal onslaught against their universities during the Cultural Revolution and know that it will bring no benefits. America is living through its own 'Mao moments', but we may soon be able to rename them 'Trump moments.' Félix Valdivieso is chairman of IE China Observatory, IE University This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
