Latest news with #Anson
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- General
- Al Jazeera
Chinese students in US grapple with uncertainty over Trump's visa policies
Washington, DC – For Anson, hearing the news that Chinese student visas were the latest target of US President Donald Trump's administration was 'heartbreaking'. The Chinese graduate student, who is studying foreign service at Georgetown University, told Al Jazeera that he feels uncertain about the future of students like himself after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the US would begin to 'aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields'. 'There is definitely a degree of uncertainty and anxiety observed amongst us,' Anson said, asking that only his first name be used. The Trump administration has offered little further clarity on which students would be affected, with some observers seeing the two-sentence announcement, which also vowed to 'revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny' for future visa applicants from China and Hong Kong, as intentionally vague. While 23-year-old Anson said he understood the US government had concerns about foreign influence and national security when it came to China, he was confused as to why the Trump administration's new policy was potentially so wide reaching. Most students from his homeland, he said, were just like the other more than one million students who study every year in the US, a country that is known both for its educational opportunities and for its 'inclusivity and broad demographics'. 'It is heartbreaking for many of us to see a country built by immigrants becoming more xenophobic and hostile to the rest of the world,' he said, adding that he and other Chinese students in the US were still trying to decipher the policy shift. It is not the first time the Trump administration has taken aim at Chinese students, with the US Department of Justice in 2018, during Trump's first term, launching the so-called 'China Initiative' with the stated aim of combatting 'trade secret theft, hacking, and economic espionage'. An MIT analysis instead showed the programme focused predominantly on researchers and academics of Chinese descent, in what critics said amounted to 'racial profiling and fear mongering'. It was discontinued in February 2022 by the administration of former US President Joe Biden. Since then, there has only been 'greater and greater suspicion in the US, almost on a bipartisan basis, of various aspects of Chinese technology, actions by Beijing around the world, and now these concerns about surveillance and spying within the US', according to Kyle Chan, a researcher on China at Princeton University. That included a Republican-led congressional report in September 2024 that claimed hundreds of millions of US tax dollars – funneled through US-China partnerships at universities – helped Beijing develop critical technologies, including those related to semiconductors, artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons, and nuclear capabilities. But Chan, while acknowledging 'genuine security concerns' exist, said the broad announcement from the Trump administration did not appear to actually address those concerns. Instead, it has sent 'shock waves of fear throughout university campuses across the country', he said. That uncertainty has been compounded by Trump's recent pressure campaigns on US universities, which most recently involved a since-blocked revocation of Harvard University's ability to enrol international students. 'I think the vagueness is part of the [Trump administration's] strategy, because it is not about a concrete policy,' Chan told Al Jazeera. 'I don't think it's really, at the end of the day, about national security and trying to find the few individuals who may pose a genuine risk.' Instead, he saw the move as aimed at Trump's political audience, those sitting at an 'overlap between people who are very anxious about immigrants in general, and people who are very anxious about China'. The administration has offered little clarity on the scope of the visa revocations, or how it will define students with 'connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields'. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce gave few further specifics, saying only that the department 'will continue to use every tool in our tool chest to make sure that we know who it is who wants to come into this country and if they should be allowed to come in'. 'The United States, I further can say here, will not tolerate the CCP's exploitation of US universities or theft of US research, intellectual property or technologies to grow its military power, conduct intelligence collection or repress voices of opposition,' she said. Despite the dearth of clarity, the eventual shape of the policy will determine just how 'disruptive' it could be, according to Cole McFaul, a research analyst at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University. He pointed to 'real concerns about research security and about illicit IP [intellectual property] transfer' when it comes to Beijing, noting there have been a handful of documented cases of such activity in recent years. 'My hope is that this is a targeted action based on evidence and an accurate assessment of risk that takes into account the costs and the benefits,' McFaul said. 'My worry is that this will lead to broad-based, large-scale revocations of visas for Chinese students operating in STEM subjects,' he said, referencing the abbreviation for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. McFaul noted that about 80 percent of the estimated 277,000 Chinese students who study in the US annually are in STEM subjects, in what he described as 'an enormously important talent pipeline from China to the United States for the past 40 years'. A vast majority of Chinese PhDs in STEM subjects – also about 80 percent – tend to stay in the US after their studies, in what McFaul described as another major benefit to the US. 'The question is, what counts as someone who's working in a critical technology? Are life sciences critical? I would say 'yes'. Are the physical sciences critical? I'd say 'yes'. Is computer science critical? Is engineering critical?' McFaul said. 'So there's a world where the vast majority of Chinese students are disallowed from studying in the United States, which would be an enormous loss and tremendous disruption for the United States science and technology ecosystem,' he said. As the policy remains foggy, Chinese students in the US said they are monitoring the often fickle winds of the Trump administration. Su, a 23-year-old applied analytics graduate student at Columbia University, said she swiftly changed her plans to travel home to China this summer amid the uncertainty. 'I was afraid if I go back to China, I won't be able to come back to the US for when classes begin,' said Su, who asked to only use her last name given the 'sensitive' situation. 'When Trump announces something, we never know if it's going to be effective or not,' she told Al Jazeera. 'It's always changing'. Deng, a graduate student at Georgetown who also asked that his full name not be used, said he broadly agreed that reforms were needed to address issues related to Chinese influence in US academia. Those included intimidation of political dissidents, the spread of nationalist propaganda, and 'oligarchy corruption', he said. But, in an email to Al Jazeera, he said the administration's approach was misguided. 'The current measures not only do not achieve such goals,' he said, 'but [are] also generating unnecessary fear even among the Chinese student communities that have long been fully committed to the development and enrichment of US society.'
Al Jazeera
2 days ago
- Business
- Al Jazeera
‘Shock waves of fear': Chinese students grapple with Trump visa uncertainty
Washington, DC – For Anson, hearing the news that Chinese student visas were the latest target of US President Donald Trump's administration was 'heartbreaking'. The Chinese graduate student, who is studying foreign service at Georgetown University, told Al Jazeera that he feels uncertain about the future of students like himself after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the US would begin to 'aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields'. 'There is definitely a degree of uncertainty and anxiety observed amongst us,' Anson said, asking that only his first name be used. The Trump administration has offered little further clarity on which students would be affected, with some observers seeing the two-sentence announcement, which also vowed to 'revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny' for future visa applicants from China and Hong Kong, as intentionally vague. While 23-year-old Anson said he understood the US government had concerns about foreign influence and national security when it came to China, he was confused as to why the Trump administration's new policy was potentially so wide reaching. Most students from his homeland, he said, were just like the other more than one million students who study every year in the US, a country that is known both for its educational opportunities and for its 'inclusivity and broad demographics'. 'It is heartbreaking for many of us to see a country built by immigrants becoming more xenophobic and hostile to the rest of the world,' he said, adding that he and other Chinese students in the US were still trying to decipher the policy shift. It is not the first time the Trump administration has taken aim at Chinese students, with the US Department of Justice in 2018, during Trump's first term, launching the so-called 'China Initiative' with the stated aim of combatting 'trade secret theft, hacking, and economic espionage'. An MIT analysis instead showed the programme focused predominantly on researchers and academics of Chinese descent, in what critics said amounted to 'racial profiling and fear mongering'. It was discontinued in February 2022 by the administration of former US President Joe Biden. Since then, there has only been 'greater and greater suspicion in the US, almost on a bipartisan basis, of various aspects of Chinese technology, actions by Beijing around the world, and now these concerns about surveillance and spying within the US', according to Kyle Chan, a researcher on China at Princeton University. That included a Republican-led congressional report in September 2024 that claimed hundreds of millions of US tax dollars – funneled through US-China partnerships at universities – helped Beijing develop critical technologies, including those related to semiconductors, artificial intelligence, hypersonic weapons, and nuclear capabilities. But Chan, while acknowledging 'genuine security concerns' exist, said the broad announcement from the Trump administration did not appear to actually address those concerns. Instead, it has sent 'shock waves of fear throughout university campuses across the country', he said. That uncertainty has been compounded by Trump's recent pressure campaigns on US universities, which most recently involved a since-blocked revocation of Harvard University's ability to enrol international students. 'I think the vagueness is part of the [Trump administration's] strategy, because it is not about a concrete policy,' Chan told Al Jazeera. 'I don't think it's really, at the end of the day, about national security and trying to find the few individuals who may pose a genuine risk.' Instead, he saw the move as aimed at Trump's political audience, those sitting at an 'overlap between people who are very anxious about immigrants in general, and people who are very anxious about China'. The administration has offered little clarity on the scope of the visa revocations, or how it will define students with 'connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields'. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce gave few further specifics, saying only that the department 'will continue to use every tool in our tool chest to make sure that we know who it is who wants to come into this country and if they should be allowed to come in'. 'The United States, I further can say here, will not tolerate the CCP's exploitation of US universities or theft of US research, intellectual property or technologies to grow its military power, conduct intelligence collection or repress voices of opposition,' she said. Despite the dearth of clarity, the eventual shape of the policy will determine just how 'disruptive' it could be, according to Cole McFaul, a research analyst at the Center for Security and Emerging Technology at Georgetown University. He pointed to 'real concerns about research security and about illicit IP [intellectual property] transfer' when it comes to Beijing, noting there have been a handful of documented cases of such activity in recent years. 'My hope is that this is a targeted action based on evidence and an accurate assessment of risk that takes into account the costs and the benefits,' McFaul said. 'My worry is that this will lead to broad-based, large-scale revocations of visas for Chinese students operating in STEM subjects,' he said, referencing the abbreviation for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. McFaul noted that about 80 percent of the estimated 277,000 Chinese students who study in the US annually are in STEM subjects, in what he described as 'an enormously important talent pipeline from China to the United States for the past 40 years'. A vast majority of Chinese PhDs in STEM subjects – also about 80 percent – tend to stay in the US after their studies, in what McFaul described as another major benefit to the US. 'The question is, what counts as someone who's working in a critical technology? Are life sciences critical? I would say 'yes'. Are the physical sciences critical? I'd say 'yes'. Is computer science critical? Is engineering critical?' McFaul said. 'So there's a world where the vast majority of Chinese students are disallowed from studying in the United States, which would be an enormous loss and tremendous disruption for the United States science and technology ecosystem,' he said. As the policy remains foggy, Chinese students in the US said they are monitoring the often fickle winds of the Trump administration. Su, a 23-year-old applied analytics graduate student at Columbia University, said she swiftly changed her plans to travel home to China this summer amid the uncertainty. 'I was afraid if I go back to China, I won't be able to come back to the US for when classes begin,' said Su, who asked to only use her last name given the 'sensitive' situation. 'When Trump announces something, we never know if it's going to be effective or not,' she told Al Jazeera. 'It's always changing'. Deng, a graduate student at Georgetown who also asked that his full name not be used, said he broadly agreed that reforms were needed to address issues related to Chinese influence in US academia. Those included intimidation of political dissidents, the spread of nationalist propaganda, and 'oligarchy corruption', he said. But, in an email to Al Jazeera, he said the administration's approach was misguided. 'The current measures not only do not achieve such goals,' he said, 'but [are] also generating unnecessary fear even among the Chinese student communities that have long been fully committed to the development and enrichment of US society.'
Daily Record
21-05-2025
- Science
- Daily Record
Royal Navy's £1.3bn 'hunter-killer' submarine ready after secret tests at US Navy's 'Area 51'
HMS Anson is the fifth and most advanced in the Royal Navy's Astute-class of nuclear-powered submarines, which can circumnavigate the globe completely submerged beneath the waves The Royal Navy is preparing to deploy its £1.3billion 'hunter-killer' submarine, the HMS Anson, following weapons tests in the Atlantic and a visit to the US's maritime equivalent of 'Area 51'. The HMS Anson is the latest addition to the Navy's Astute-class of nuclear-powered vessels, which are capable of circumnavigating the globe completely submerged, making it the most advanced yet. This formidable vessel can launch long-range Tomahawk missiles to strike land targets as well as Spearfish torpedoes to combat enemy submarines, making the Astute-class the largest in the underwater fleet. HMS Anson has undergone trials off the east coast of the United States and in the Caribbean Sea, testing these capabilities alongside her state-of-the-art systems. Anson joins her operational sisters: Astute, Ambush, Artful and Audacious in this impressive class, reports the Express. Before being officially deployed on military operations, the sub will undergo further rigorous tests. Since leaving its shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness in February 2024, Anson has patrolled the UK coastline before sailing further north of Scotland to test her weapons systems. The Royal Navy describes these drills as consisting of "successful firings of both Spearfish and Tomahawk test missiles" before matters "intensified into the Atlantic as Anson headed to the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC) in the waters around the Bahamas." AUTEC, nestled beside the Tongue of the Ocean's natural marvel—a vast deep-water basin hewn from coral reef—attracts top military tech experts from around the globe. The facility has earned a reputation as the US Navy's 'Area 51' due to the classified nature of its operations, and it even featured on History Channel's TV show UFO Hunters, where it was touted as a secret alien underwater base. In truth, the base spans 20 miles in width, stretches 150 miles in length, plunges up to 6,000ft deep in certain areas, and is packed with sophisticated recording gear to collect data on submarines, torpedoes, and sonar. While the precise outcomes of Anson's trials remain under wraps, the submarine must perform exceptionally well to confirm her capability to track enemy subs undetected. However, it wasn't all about the grind for her crew. "The opportunity for the majority of the Ship's Company to get to spend a few days on Andros was fantastic," shared one submariner, recounting the experience. He added, "This afforded us a few days of rest from the sea trials we were conducting and allowed us to spend time on the beach in the sun, relaxing and playing volleyball with base personnel."
CBS News
16-05-2025
- Politics
- CBS News
Supreme Court blocks Trump administration from deportations under Alien Enemies Act
Washington — The Supreme Court on Friday said it will continue to block the Trump administration from deporting Venezuelan men detained in northern Texas while they pursue a challenge to their removals under the wartime Alien Enemies Act. The order from the high court grants an emergency injunction sought by lawyers for a group of Venezuelan migrants who they said faced "imminent" risk of removal under President Trump's March proclamation invoking the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. It maintains an early directive issued by the Supreme Court last month that temporarily prohibited the government from removing the Venezuelan migrants held at the Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas, under the 18th-century law. The Supreme Court's April order, issued overnight, blocked the deportations "until further order of this court." Friday's order was unsigned, and two justices dissented: Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas. This is a breaking story; it will be updated.
CNN
13-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Trump administration asks Supreme Court to resume deportation of nearly 200 Venezuelan migrants
The Trump administration on Monday asked the Supreme Court to allow it to resume the deportations of nearly 200 Venezuelan migrants detained in Texas, requesting that the court lift its order from last month that temporarily paused the deportation of migrants subject to the Alien Enemies Act. In a new court filing, Solicitor General John Sauer said that some of the 176 detained migrants allegedly associated with the Venezuelan street gang Tren de Aragua, a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, have 'proven to be especially dangerous to maintain in prolonged detention.' According to the filing, a field officer from the Department of Homeland Security described a recent incident where 23 of the detained migrants 'barricaded themselves in a housing unit for several hours and threatened to take hostages and harm ICE officers.' CNN reached out to the detainees' attorney for comment. The incident took place at Bluebonnet Detention Facility in Anson, Texas, the filing said, where a drone recently captured an aerial view of detainees sending an 'SOS' message. The detainees involved in the alleged barricading incident were relocated to another facility in Texas, according to the filing. 'Transferring such prisoners to other facilities, moreover, creates ongoing risks of prison recruitment and expansion of Tren de Aragua (TdA) gang activities within the United States,' Sauer wrote, arguing that the group should 'promptly' be removed from the country. The filing comes less than a month after the Supreme Court issued a rare overnight order that temporarily barred the administration from using the Alien Enemies Act to speed up deportations. Less than two weeks prior, the high court temporarily greenlit the administration's use of the act but said that those subject to it must be given adequate notice so they can challenge their removals under the 18th century law. The White House has alleged that the people it has deported under the act are dangerous members of Tren de Aragua, but has provided limited evidence proving as much. Government lawyers have cited tattoos on immigrants or clothing linked to gangs in court papers to allege criminality. Multiple federal judges at lower levels have since also blocked the administration from carrying out deportations under it.
