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Toronto Sun
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Sun
U.S. to revoke Chinese student visas in escalating crackdown
Published May 29, 2025 • 6 minute read Marco Rubio, U.S. secretary of state, during a Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs hearing in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Photo by Nathan Howard / Bloomberg The U.S. plans to start 'aggressively' revoking visas for Chinese students, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, escalating the Trump administration's push for greater scrutiny of foreigners attending American universities. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. 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Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Rubio said in a statement that students affected would include 'those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.' The U.S. will also enhance scrutiny 'of all future visa applications from the People's Republic of China and Hong Kong,' he added. China had the second most students in the U.S. of any country in 2024, behind India. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning accused the U.S. of taking its decision 'under the pretext of ideology and national security' at a regular briefing in Beijing on Thursday, adding that it would harm people-to-people relations. 'Such a politicized and discriminatory move lays bare the U.S. lie behind the so-called freedom and openness that the U.S. touts,' she added. 'It will only further undermine its image in the world and national reputation.' This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The decision comes just weeks after the U.S. and China negotiated a truce in their tariff war. The issue of revoking visas could now emerge as another flashpoint between the world's two biggest economies, potentially upending progress made on trade. It will also add to heightened tensions over sales to China of sophisticated chips and Beijing's determination to limit U.S. access to rare earths, which have been simmering even after the breakthrough agreement in Geneva to sharply lower tariffs for 90 days as officials try to strike a broader deal. 'This action intends to build a wall between two countries,' said Wu Xinbo, director at Fudan University's Center for American Studies in Shanghai. 'I don't think it will help facilitate the forthcoming trade talks between two sides.' Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The move followed Rubio's order a day earlier instructing U.S. embassies worldwide to stop scheduling interviews for student visas as the administration weighs stricter vetting of applicants' social-media profiles. It marks yet another effort by President Donald Trump's push to restrict foreign students' entry to American schools over claims that they might threaten U.S. national security. The White House has waged a high-stakes battle with universities that initially focused on elite universities such as Harvard and Columbia over antisemitism. That has turned into a bigger attack over the role of U.S. higher education and the foreign students whose tuition is a crucial source of income for schools around the country. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'For the ones that really can make a contribution, want to make a difference, we want to make it possible for them to come here and bring their great ideas, bring their great intellect and help us build a great America,' Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. 'I think the administration is all in on that and I don't think anything they have said changes that.' The scrutiny of Chinese students and researchers in the U.S. in recent years dates back to Trump's first term, as part of a broader attack on China's ties in the U.S. The Trump administration announced in 2020 that the Confucius Institute U.S. Center, a program funded by the Chinese government that's dedicated to teaching Chinese language and culture in the US, had to register as a 'foreign mission,' making it subject to administrative requirements similar to those for embassies and consulates. Later the same year, the U.S. revoked the visas of more than 1,000 Chinese students and researchers for national security reasons. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. In 2018, the Justice Department created a project to investigate and prosecute Chinese and Chinese-American researchers it said were stealing American secrets while hiding their links to the government in Beijing and to the People's Liberation Army. Known as the 'China Initiative,' the program was shut down four years later after coming under intense criticism for fanning discrimination against Asian-Americans. The visa restrictions announced on Wednesday extend a broader crackdown underway since Trump reclaimed the White House this year. Hours earlier, the U.S. president said Harvard should cap foreign student enrollment at 15%, escalating his campaign to force policy changes at the elite institution. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The State Department extended its scrutiny of those at Harvard beyond student visas to all visa holders, including those with business and tourist documents, a person with knowledge of the matter said. Rubio told senators last week that the number of revoked student visas is 'probably in the thousands at this point,' adding that 'a visa's not a right — it's a privilege.' International students accounted for 5.9% of the total U.S. higher education population of almost 19 million. In the 2023-2024 school year, more than 1.1 million foreign students came to the US, with India and China accounting for about half, according to the Institute of International Education. Last year, America sold a net $32 billion in services to China — including education, travel and entertainment — more than double the amount in 2022 and accounting for 11% of the nearly $300 billion global total. Almost a third of U.S. services exports to China were related to education, coming from tuition and living expenses for the Chinese students studying in the US. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The number of Chinese students has declined in the U.S. — it fell 4% to about 277,000 students in 2024 — amid increased tension between the two adversaries. The FBI has warned that China has sought to exploit 'America's deeply held and vital culture of collaboration and openness on university campuses.' The State Department is also clamping down more on foreigners seeking to come to the U.S. more broadly as part of Trump's crackdown on immigration. Earlier Wednesday, Rubio announced visa restrictions on foreign officials and other individuals who 'censor Americans,' including those who target American technology companies. Taking action against people with links to the Chinese Communist Party is a sweeping measure, given the role it plays in the lives of Chinese people and institutions, including universities and enterprises. While just under 100 million people count as members of the party, its reach is so pervasive that the number of those who can be said to have ties with it runs into multiples of that figure. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. What happens next is less clear. During his visit to the U.S. to meet with then President Joe Biden, Chinese leader Xi Jinping pledged to bring 50,000 young Americans to China to stabilize ties over a period of five years. That he's lent his name to such an effort could suggest China will be less inclined to engage in tit-for-tat by targeting American students in China. Even if it did, that number is minuscule, with the U.S. State Department saying in April last year the figure was fewer than 900 students. In the past, the two sides vented their fury at one another by closing consulates. China shuttered the U.S. consulate in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu. That came just days after the U.S. government forced their Chinese counterparts out of their mission in Houston in 2020. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. But this time, China has other options. Neil Thomas, a fellow for Chinese politics at the Asia Society Policy Institute's Center for China Analysis, said a possible response may be indirect, such as new export controls on critical minerals. 'Beijing is increasingly realizing the power of its export control regime to apply pressure on global supply chains and Western political leaders,' he said. 'Beijing will be angry and ask more questions about how successful the Geneva talks really were at laying the groundwork for a US-China deal.' — With assistance from James Mayger, Derek Wallbank, Yasufumi Saito and Philip Glamann. Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls Columnists Tennis
Int'l Business Times
20-05-2025
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Rubio 'Didn't Even Know' About Trump's Upcoming Memecoin Dinner Involving Foreign Guests: 'This is the First I've Heard of It'
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio listens as he testifies at a Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Hearings to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2026 for the Department of State at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on May 20, 2025. Secretary of State Marco Rubio testified at a Senate hearing Tuesday where he claimed he "didn't even know" about an exclusive dinner President Donald Trump is hosting this week for the top 220 holders of his memecoin. Many of the top 200 holders of TrumpCoin are foreign nationals, according to a Bloomberg report, raising concerns about potential national security implications and foreign influence. When questioned by Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT), Rubio claimed it was the first he heard of the event. "I didn't even know there was a dinner Thursday night," he said. "So I'm not sure what you're referring to." MURPHY: Let me ask you about the dinner that's happening this Thursday. The president has offered access to him to the 200 top purchasers of his memecoin. Maybe about half or more of those individuals who will be meeting with him are foreigners. Do you have a list? RUBIO: I... — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 20, 2025 Murphy pressed on: "So you don't know whether any of the foreign individuals who are going to be meeting with the president this Thursday are on our sanctioned list or have connections to, let's say, terrorist organizations abroad?" Rubio deflected, stating that if such individuals had links to terrorism, the Department of Homeland Security likely wouldn't have admitted them into the country. "You're asking me about something I don't know about. I can't answer you because I don't know anything about this dinner." "That in and of itself is a problem," Murphy said, suggesting the event could allow wealthy foreign individuals to bypass normal diplomatic channels and gain direct access to the U.S. president. Rubio dismissed the concerns, calling it "not unusual" for the president to have friendships or meetings with private individuals, foreign or domestic. "I don't have any concern that the president having dinner with someone is going to contravene the national security of the United States." People walk past a cryptocurrency exchange office with a screen featuring US President Donald Trump holding cryptocurrency coins in Hong Kong on March 12, 2025. Trump's involvement in crypto has come under increased scrutiny during his second term, which he and First Lady Melania Trump kicked off with the release of their own memecoins. In March, Trump signed an executive order establishing a "Crypto Strategic Reserve." Additionally, the president and his sons hold the owning stake of World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency firm that is set to receive a $2 billion investment from Abu-Dhabi this year. The Trump Organization executive vice-president Eric Trump (R), World Liberty Financial co-founder Zach Witkoff, son to Steve Witkoff who serves as Trump's Special Envoy to the Middle East, (C) and Tron Justin Sun, a Chinese-born crypto billionaire (L), participate in a session during the Token 2049 crypto conference in Dubai on May 1, 2025. According to a report from State Democracy Defenders Action, the Trump family has profited $2.9 billion from cryptocurrency during the past six months alone. The White House maintains that the Trump Organization is managed by Trump's sons and its business ventures and investments create no conflicts of interest for the president. Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt dismissed concerns prior to Trump's tour of the Middle East, which centered on business deals. "I think it's frankly ridiculous that anyone in this room would even suggest that President Trump is doing anything for his own benefit," she said. Originally published on Latin Times © Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
