US threatens ban on Chinese study visas

The Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act (Stop CCP VIASs Act) was proposed by Republican Congressman Riley M. Moore on Friday March 16.

“Every year we allow nearly 300,000 Chinese nationals to come to the US on student visas,” said Moore: “We’ve literally invited the CCP to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property, and threaten national security.”

“Congress needs to end China’s exploitation of our student visa program. It’s time we turn off the spigot and immediately ban all student visas going to Chinese nationals,” he added in a statement.

The Bill was co-sponsored by five other Republicans, with Moore citing several recent cases of Chinese students in Michigan, Virginia and Chicago being charged or convicted for gathering sensitive information.

While recognizing the need to address national security concerns, critics have highlighted the hugely disproportionate nature of the legislation and the danger of such wide reaching exclusionary measures.

“The data shows only 0.0017% of Chinese students were implicated in espionage activities last year,” Shaun Carver, International House CEO at UC Berkeley told The PIE News.

Carver called for a more targeted approach to addressing security risks without eliminating the academic and economic contributions of Chinese students, the second largest cohort of US international students, comprising nearly 25% of new international enrolments in 2024.

Before being signed into law, the Bill must pass the Republican-controlled House and Senate, though some stakeholders have said the economic value of international students – who contributed $50bn to the US economy in 2023 – made it unlikely that it will pass.

However, its introduction alone will hurt Chinese student sentiment, said Eddie West, assistant vice-president of international affairs at California State University, Fresno.

“Conceiving of China as an adversary, full stop, does a huge disservice to the importance of collaboration between our two countries. We have far more to gain by partnership than by exclusion,” added West.

West cautioned that the measure was “misguided at best and dangerous at worst”, hearkening back to “one of the more shameful moments in US history and the Chinese Exclusion Act”.

The tabled legislation would restrict all student visa types for Chinese individuals, going far beyond Trump’s 2020 proclamation that cancelled over 1,000 visas of Chinese graduate students and researchers.

Upon its introduction, the Bill drew immediate criticism from Asian American groups and House Democrats who said it unfairly painted all Chinese students as a threat, cautioning against racial profiling.

“While national security is of utmost importance to Americans, resorting to racism and xenophobia is never the answer,” said Asian Americans Advancing Justice, in a statement.

Ben Waxman, CEO of Intead academic research consultancy, called on the US government to implement “actions that are appropriate to the circumstances” and for legislators to stop “wasting people’s time”.

“A quick ChatGPT search of Congressional Representatives and Senators charged with felony and other serious offences breaking US laws in the past five years results in five specific cases of flagrant violations and convictions. Of the 535 elected officials in the two houses of Congress, that represents 1% of these elected officials.

“The same search of cases of US law violations committed by Chinese students studying in the US results in 10 individuals being charged. Of the 300,000+ Chinese students studying in the US, that represents .003% of these students.

“Would it be appropriate to introduce new, groundbreaking legislation in Congress to halt the federal crimes committed by US elected officials by dissolving all of Congress and ejecting them from the country?” Waxman asked.

When faced with such hostile policies in the US, students are likely to turn to the UK and Europe as alternative study destinations, West predicted, with US institutions shouldering the financial repercussions of declining international students.

“Chinese students… pay higher tuition rates than domestic students, providing significant revenue for many institutions. Their absence would create funding challenges,” said Carver, highlighting potential reductions in research, cultural exchange and diversity.

Carver has called for policy makers to consider more targeted approaches to national security including enhancing existing visa screening processes, targeting cyber espionage and implementing specific safeguards for sensitive research, while maintaining educational exchanges.

“Misuse of the Student Visa route to come to the US by individuals with no true intent to study here is more common than some folks in our profession are eager to acknowledge, and it inadvertently adds fuel to the fire of anti-immigrant sentiment,” said West.

He added that the US could learn from the UK’s compliance system that puts greater onus on institutions to self-regulate, or Australia’s PRISMS system for an effective example of real-time information sharing.

While Republican politicians have claimed that the risk posed by China’s “draconian national security law” has required them to take such drastic action, the Chinese government has seemed to be softening its policies towards US students in recent years.

As well as institutions seeking more US partnerships, the CCP has introduced several measures to revitalize international exchanges, including plans to welcome 50,000 young Americans to study in China by 2030.

Mingze Sang, director of BOSSA, China’s Association of Education Agencies, said: “While there’s a sense that such bills are frequently introduced without becoming law, there’s also an understanding that they can create uncertainty.”

“We advise parents and students to seek reliable information and avoid being swayed by potentially transient political discussions,” said Sang, adding that global student mobility as a “powerful and ongoing trend”.