Latest news with #ChineseCommunistparty
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
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.
The Guardian
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Shanghai Dolls review – treachery and affinity between the women of Mao's world
It begins with accidental friendship between an actor practising her lines at a theatre in Shanghai and a grieving teenager whose father has just died, but who shows a natural gift for directing when she gets pulled into rehearsals. Lan Ping (Gabby Wong) and Li Lin (Millicent Wong), begin working together in the theatre and sharing a home. We follow their trajectory of friendship and betrayals, refracted through seismic events in 20th-century Chinese history. Playwright Amy Ng is also a historian and bases her drama on the 'untold true story' of these women, who rise in power and position in communist China. Lan Ping goes from revolutionary actor, who talks of destroying the strictures of patriarchy, to become Chairman Mao's wife and the architect of the Cultural Revolution. Meanwhile, Li Lin, the daughter of a communist martyr who is later adopted by Mao's number two, becomes China's foremost theatre director. In their early friendship, they pledge never to betray each other but do just that when political ideology, power and ambition gets in the way. The play traces their moving positions toward art, the party and how to survive in it as a woman. Under the direction of Katie Posner, this is as much an ideas play as a drama of a fateful female friendship. Debate dominates with talk of creative independence for artists and whether the Communist party can bring freedom for women or stifle their progress. Lan Ping thinks the latter, and is later politically silenced. Li Lin's position of absolute faith in the party changes too. Both women have powerful male patrons whom they need to survive, and there is an ongoing discussion around Ibsen's Nora. In the early scenes especially, they seem like mouthpieces for their political positions and this hampers emotion or intimacy from building. There is a lot of history to digest too; the plot streaks across almost 60 years in 80 minutes. We go from civil war between the Chinese Communist party and the nationalists in the 1930s to wars with Japan, the establishment of the People's Republic of China, famine and Cultural Revolution. Sometimes it leaves you behind in its welter of names and events. There are jumps through time – the historical backdrop shifts with each scene and with it the women's lives. It is not always immediately clear what has happened, how it has affected them or who they have become. What helps to adrenalise the story and bring context is Jean Chan's fluidly moving set and Akhila Krishnan's video design, with projected illustrations and bursts of colour that bear the aesthetics of a graphic novel and bring visual drama. Nicola T Chang's electronic music design adds to it, culminating in a spectacular blood red set-piece, with a blaze of sound, light and movement. It ends with real-life footage of the women, which finally brings the emotion that has hitherto been missing. This is a handsome production and it is remarkable that Ng has unearthed the story of this friendship, but for all its colour it leaves emotional gaps. At Kiln theatre, London, until 10 May
The Guardian
30-01-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Detective Chinatown 1900 review – blockbusting Chinese franchise goes back in time
This prequel to the huge-grossing Detective Chinatown franchise, though focused on anti-Chinese xenophobia in turn-of-the-century San Francisco, manages to be a rare example of a Sino-blockbuster not filled with maudlin patriotism; it mostly carries its cultural message charmingly and with plenty of self-deprecating humour. At one point, an imperial Chinese investigator toughs it out in order to form an alliance with a gaggle of Irish hoodlums straight from Gangs of New York. 'You held yourself so well back there,' his underlings congratulate him, before their leader's legs give out. 'Don't let the Americans see. I'm about to pee myself!' The story here is that malevolent forces are stirring the great American melting pot. The son of local Tong leader Bai Xuanling (Chow Yun-fat, still with charisma on tap) is arrested for the murder of the daughter of racist Republican congressman Grant (John Cusack), so the former sends for wunderkind sleuth Qin Fu (Haoran Liu) – apparently deputised by the actual Sherlock Holmes – to get his kid off the hook. Also killed the same night was a Native American elder, whose son Gui (Baoquiang Wang) swears revenge and becomes pig-tailed Watson to Fu's junior Holmes. No explanation (at first) for why he can speak fluent Hebei dialect. The plot sprawls in all directions, with lots of enjoyable hokum from the moment Fu falls semi-naked from a bathroom window into Gui's poncho to the sound of the Platters' Only You. Reading crime scenes according to the principles of Chinese medicine, Fu comports himself like a cocky, inane Tintin, while Gui pumps his muscles up with acupuncture needles at strategic moments like a bodybuilding Tonto. There's a total blitheness about the racelifting aspect of Wang playing a Native American; the film opts instead for a heartwarming general emphasis on racial tolerance and mixing seemingly exemplified by a showstopping scene in which a carousel of the wrong people appear from a magician's box. Tightly paced and snappily directed, this is decent-quality Chinese screwball, if a touch overlong. It's a shame that the film mars its own message of international confrerie in an oddly pointed coda where Bai warns of his adopted homeland: 'There's so much we can learn from this place. Study your opponent's strength before going into battle.' Then another character predicts that China will soon be the world's most powerful nation. There ends the sponsored message from the Chinese Communist party; you can't say they don't leave us clues to pick up on. Detective Chinatown 1900 is in UK and Irish cinemas from 29 January.
