Japan to call on U.S. to minimize Harvard foreign student ban impact
KYODO NEWS - May 23, 2025 - 19:46 | All, World
The Japanese government said Friday it will call on the United States to mitigate any potential impact on Japanese students enrolled at Harvard University after U.S. President Donald Trump's administration decided to revoke the prestigious institution's certification to accept international students.
"There are many Japanese students at Harvard University. We are closely monitoring the situation with high interest," top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi, who himself is Harvard-educated, told a press conference.
The Japanese government "will take the necessary response" including talking with the United States, he added.
Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya told a separate press conference that the government has asked the U.S. Embassy in Japan to provide further details in a bid to minimize the impact on Japanese students and that the Japanese Embassy in Washington will similarly seek information.
According to the university, it hosts international students and scholars from over 140 countries, with 260 coming from Japan. China topped the countries for students enrolled at 2,126, followed by India at 788 and Canada at 769.
The termination of Harvard's certification of its Student and Exchange Visitor Program marks an escalation of the standoff between the Trump administration and the elite institution over diversity policies and campus protests regarding the Israel-Hamas war, among other issues.
The revocation means the university can no longer enroll foreign students and existing foreign students must transfer or lose their legal status, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a statement issued Thursday.
"Harvard's leadership has created an unsafe campus environment by permitting anti-American, pro-terrorist agitators to harass and physically assault individuals, including Jewish students," the statement asserted, adding many of these "agitators are foreign students."
The university said, "Harvard is committed to maintaining our ability to host our international students and scholars."
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