China says US immigration interrogated, deported Chinese students with valid visas
January 30, 2024
The Chinese government has lodged a protest with the United States regarding the alleged mistreatment of Chinese students arriving in the country.
What China is claiming: Chinese Ambassador Xie Feng reportedly stated that dozens of students, despite holding valid visas, were subjected to lengthy interrogations, electronic device checks and in some instances, forced deportations over the past few months. The protest follows incidents at airports, including Dulles, where students faced entry bans, loss of visas and repatriation after being questioned about their funding sources, party affiliations and research connections.
“When they landed at the airport, what awaited them was an eight-hour-long interrogation by officers who prohibited them from contacting their parents, made groundless accusations against them and even forcibly repatriated them and banned their entry,” Xie said at embassy event on student exchanges Sunday, as per AP News. “This is absolutely unacceptable.”
The big picture: China has more than 1.3 million students studying abroad, nearly 290,000 of which are in the U.S. The Chinese government emphasized that such actions negatively impact international students’ studies and violate agreements on people-to-people exchanges reached between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping last November. The protest comes amid efforts to improve the U.S.-China relations despite existing tensions over trade, technology and human rights.
As of this writing, the U.S. government has not made a public statement in response to China’s allegations.
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