The US can even ‘improve scrutiny of all future visa purposes’ from China and Hong Kong, the State Division mentioned.
The US will “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese language college students finding out within the nation, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has introduced, because the administration of President Donald Trump continues its crackdown on overseas college students enrolled at greater schooling establishments within the US.
Rubio introduced the shock transfer in a submit on X, in addition to a State Division assertion revealed late on Wednesday, titled “New Visa Insurance policies Put America First, Not China”.
“Below President Trump’s management, the US State Division will work with the Division of Homeland Safety to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese language college students, together with these with connections to the Chinese language Communist Occasion or finding out in vital fields,” the assertion mentioned.
“We can even revise visa standards to boost scrutiny of all future visa purposes from the Individuals’s Republic of China and Hong Kong,” it added.
China is the second-largest nation of origin for worldwide college students within the US, behind India. Chinese language college students made up roughly 1 / 4 of all overseas college students within the US through the 2023 – 2024 faculty 12 months, at greater than 270,000 in whole.
Al Jazeera correspondent in Beijing Katrina Yu mentioned many Chinese language college students within the US come from elite backgrounds and they’re “very prone to have some Communist Occasion connection”.
“There are 90 million Communist Occasion members right here in China. Most of them do not need a task in authorities and lots of of them are strange individuals,” she mentioned. “It’s seemingly that college students from these households have connections with the Communist Occasion, though they is probably not a member themselves.”
The Chinese language authorities is but to publicly reply to the Trump administration’s transfer.
The U.S. will start revoking visas of Chinese language college students, together with these with connections to the Chinese language Communist Occasion or finding out in vital fields.
— Secretary Marco Rubio (@SecRubio) Could 28, 2025
The motion in opposition to Chinese language college students comes at a time of rising friction between Washington and Beijing after Trump accused China of exploiting the US on commerce and triggered a tariff battle upon returning to the White Home for a second time period.
US Home of Representatives Republicans have additionally deemed ties between US and Chinese language tutorial establishments to be a risk to nationwide safety.
Earlier this month, Michigan Congressmen John Moolenaar and Tim Walberg pressed Duke College within the US to finish its relationship with Wuhan College in China over considerations about expertise switch.
Moolenaar and Walberg claimed that the academic partnership created a “direct pipeline between US innovation and China’s military-industrial advanced”.
Trump administration’s assault on greater schooling
Rubio’s announcement provides to extra basic uncertainty for worldwide college students within the US, who’ve confronted intensifying scrutiny over latest months amid the administration’s wider assault on greater schooling establishments.
On Tuesday, the White Home additionally briefly suspended the processing of visas for overseas college students, ordering embassies and consulates to not enable any extra pupil or change visas “till additional steering is issued”.
The State Division additionally mentioned it plans to “challenge steering on expanded social media vetting for all such purposes”.
Final week, the Trump administration revoked Harvard College’s approval to enrol worldwide college students. A federal decide has briefly blocked the transfer, which is available in response to a tussle between the White Home and Harvard over the college’s dealing with of pro-Palestine protests and variety programmes.
This newest crackdown on overseas college students additionally comes as Rubio and the State Division have sought to rescind tons of of schooling visas over alleged minor authorized infractions, political advocacy, or incendiary speech by visiting college students.
Lots of these targets for visa revocations and arrests have been college students who participated in pro-Palestine and anti-Gaza battle protests which have erupted on campuses throughout the US since Israel’s onslaught in opposition to the Palestinian territory.
Others focused by the US authorities are individuals with oblique hyperlinks to Palestine or those that have proven assist for the Palestinian trigger on social media.
The Trump administration accuses them of spreading anti-Semitism on campus – a declare college students, attorneys and activists deny.