China condemns US decision to revoke student visas
China has lodged a protest over the US declaration that it will 'aggressively' revoke the visas of Chinese students studying at US universities.
China's ministry of foreign affairs told reporters on Thursday that it had formally objected to Washington over Wednesday's announcement by Marco Rubio, the secretary of state.
A spokesperson for the Chinese government, Mao Ning, accused the Trump administration of using national security and ideology as a pretext for the 'unreasonable' decision, which 'seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students and disrupted the normal cultural exchanges between the two countries'.
She added: 'This political and discriminatory practice of the US has exposed the lies of the so-called freedom and openness that the US has always advertised, and further damaged the US's own international image, national image and national credibility.'
Rubio's announcement had specifically cited increased scrutiny for students from China and Hong Kong, one of the largest sources of revenue for US universities.
It came after China criticised his department's decision a day earlier to suspend visa appointments for students worldwide, at least temporarily, and a week after Trump's administration sought to end permission for all international students at Harvard University, which had rebuffed pressure from the president.
Related: Hong Kong targets 'top talent' as Harvard faces international student ban
Rubio said the US would 'aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist party or studying in critical fields. We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong.'
Young Chinese people have long been crucial to US universities, which rely on international students paying full tuition.
China sent 277,398 students in the 2023-24 academic year, although India surpassed it for the first time in years, according to a report by the Institute of International Education, backed by the state department
In his previous term, Trump also took aim at Chinese students but focused attention on those in sensitive fields or with explicit links with the military. It was unclear to what extent Rubio's statement marked an escalation.
On Wednesday, Mao said Beijing had urged Washington to 'safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of international students, including those from China'.
Rubio has trumpeted the revocation of thousands of visas, largely to international students who were involved in activism critical of Israel.
A diplomatic cable signed by Rubio on Tuesday ordered US embassies and consulates not to allow 'any additional student or exchange visa … appointment capacity until further guidance is issued' on increasing screening of applicants' social media accounts. The measures also threaten to put pressure on students from countries friendly to the US.
Trump is furious at Harvard for rejecting his administration's push for oversight on admissions and hiring, amid his claims the school is a hotbed of antisemitism and 'woke' liberal ideology.
A judge paused the order to bar foreign students pending a hearing scheduled for Thursday, the same day as the university's graduation ceremony for which thousands of students and their families had gathered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The White House has also stripped Harvard, as well as other US universities widely considered among the world's most elite, of federal funding for research.
Harvard has filed extensive legal challenges against Trump's measures.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
32 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Opelousas Museum launches Neighborhoods Project
OPELOUSAS, La. () — Historic preservation has always been a priority as Opelousas continues to evolve. Now, Patrice Melnick with the is continuing that mission with the Where We Live: Opelousas Neighborhoods Project. 'The main idea of the project is to highlight the neighborhoods, and they have names like the Brickyard and the Oil Mill and Garland, and they're commonly known, but they don't appear on maps. So, we want to raise the profiles of the neighborhoods especially the profiles of the people who lived there,' Melnick said in an interview with News 10. The way the museum plans to accomplish that goal is by having residents take pictures in their neighborhoods along with written stories about their memories. 'At the end of the project, which will be the end of the year, we're going to print some of those photographs and we're going to have an art show,' said Melnick. Close Thanks for signing up! Watch for us in your inbox. Subscribe Now Melnick is also asking for assistance in labeling these special areas on a map of the city. 'We have one map that has the neighborhoods,' Melnick explained. 'Some of them may be wrong. So, we encourage people to we have a blank map with an invitation for people to come and draw in where their neighborhoods are. And even what's cool in each neighborhood.' With so much history in the city, Melnick says the people who live in it will tell the story of the city in the most genuine way possible. 'People are very proud of where they come from,' Melnick said. 'They're proud of their neighborhoods. It's a part of their identity. They have memories and a lot of associations, a lot of time that has to do with family and community. And so, it's exciting to hear those stories and to share them. And maybe it'll create a stronger sense of community between us.' For more on the Opelousas Neighborhoods Project, visit the link. Senators itching for Trump green light to move on Russia sanctions Concerns grow over river diversion project in Atchafalaya Basin Opelousas Museum launches Neighborhoods Project A Quiet Week of Weather With Near Normal Temperatures… Trump team emphasizes immigration in Boulder response Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Student Loans: Ed Dept pauses plan to garnish Social Security checks
(NewsNation) — The Trump administration has paused a plan to garnish the Social Security checks of those who have defaulted on their student loans, an Education Department official told NewsNation on Monday. 'The Department has not offset any social security benefits since restarting collections on May 5, and has put a pause on any future social security offsets,' Ellen Keast, a department spokeswoman, said in a statement to NewsNation. The announcement will come as welcome news to hundreds of thousands of older Americans with defaulted student loans, after the Education Department warned in May that federal benefits would be subject to offset as soon as this month. Social Security plans to add AI to phone systems: Reports In May, the Education Department resumed involuntary collections on defaulted federal student loans for the first time since March 2020. As part of that process, hundreds of thousands of older borrowers were expected to be at risk of having their Social Security checks garnished. But on Monday, Keast said Social Security offsets have been paused, and that the Trump administration is 'committed to protecting social security recipients.' 'In the coming weeks, the Department will begin proactive outreach to recipients about affordable loan repayment options and help them back into good standing,' Keast said. This year, an estimated 452,000 people aged 62 and older had student loans in default and were likely to experience the renewed forced collections, according to a January report from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). Social Security increase missing? Here's what to do The Education Department did not say whether the garnishment pause applied only to Social Security benefits or also to other federal benefits. NewsNation has asked for clarification. The Social Security Administration (SSA) did not respond to NewsNation's request for comment. When the Education Department initially announced the restart of involuntary collections, it warned that the Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) would begin administrative wage garnishment 'later this summer' after sending required notices. Last month, a federal judge blocked the Trump administration's plan to move the $1.6 trillion student loan portfolio to the Small Business Administration, keeping the Education Department in charge of managing those loans, CNBC reported. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Walmart and Target workers are sharing pics of price increases amid Trump's trade war
Workers at Walmart and Target have been sharing evidence of price hikes that they believe to be caused by Donald Trump's tariffs. Since announcing his "Liberation Day" import taxes at the start of April, Trump has repeatedly raged at companies not to raise their prices — including Walmart, Ford, and Mattel. "Walmart should STOP trying to blame Tariffs as the reason for raising prices," he posted last month. "Between Walmart and China they should, as is said, 'EAT THE TARIFFS,' and not charge valued customers ANYTHING. I'll be watching, and so will your customers!" But on Reddit boards dedicated to the two U.S. retail giants, eagle-eyed workers have also been tracking the situation. "I work in Toys and we had about 600 price changes in the last couple days... EVERYTHING went up," one user posted last week. "Most things went up $4, but the bigger toys like RCs and hover boards jumped a whole $40-50. It's f***ing crazy." Another said: "I work apparel and we've had to start tearing off the parts on the price tags where they had the original price, 'cause majority went up $5-$10 more." One photo posted by a Walmart worker early May showed a toddler's ring-stacking toy increasing from $5.88 to $19.97 — a 240 percent increase. The toy is currently listed online for $8.23. Meanwhile, a Target worker uploaded a snap of them replacing the $9.99 tag on a six-foot phone charging cable with a new tag for $17.99, jacking up its price by 80 per cent. Other examples reported by Business Insider and Buzzfeed News, posted by both workers and customers, showed a dinosaur toy rising 38 percent from $39.92 to $55; a fishing reel jumping 45 percent from $57.37 to $83.26; a tablet computer climbing 23 percent from $79 to $97; and a roll of tape more than doubling from $4.24 to $9.94. Both Walmart and Target executives have warned that they might soon have to raise prices due to Trump's tariffs on imported goods, which make it more expensive for companies to source products or components from other countries. "We're wired for everyday low prices, but the magnitude of these increases is more than any retailer can absorb," Walmart's chief financial officer told CNBC last month. It's not clear whether either retailer is raising prices systematically across the board, and inflation figures for April showed little impact from Trump's tariffs. The Independent has asked Walmart and Target for comment. Retailers regularly change prices for all kinds of reasons, such as seasonal sales, temporary supply chain glitches, extreme weather due to global warming, or simple errors. Nevertheless, many store workers on Reddit said they were seeing unusual numbers of price changes in their departments — a labor-intensive process for stores that have not implemented electronic price displays, since every label must be replaced by hand. "Tons of price changes today," reported one Walmart worker in April. "It's been like that since the tariff stuff started," another replied. "Been doing price change everyday for the past four months or so, and seeing everything going up all at once is really making me sad," said a Target worker in late May. "I just feel terrible putting all these ridiculously high prices up." Some shared screenshots purportedly from their companies' internal apps, or photos of the giant stacks of tags they were sorting through, claiming there had been thousands or even tens of thousands of changes at their store. "What the actual F?" posted one Walmart worker in late April, alongside a screenshot showing 5,000 price changes that day alone. Another worker responded wryly: "Slow day?"
