Republican legislation seeks to ban Chinese nationals from studying in the US

[Eugene]

Source: Associated Press

Republican legislation seeks to ban Chinese nationals from studying in the US

By FU TING
Updated 8:51 PM EDT, March 14, 2025

WASHINGTON (AP) — A group of House Republicans on Friday put forward legislation seeking to prevent Chinese students from studying in American schools, as some U.S. lawmakers are targeting China over national security concerns.

Rep. Riley Moore, R-W.Va., introduced the bill that could bar Chinese nationals from receiving visas that allow foreigners to travel to the U.S. to study or participate in exchange visitor programs. Five other Republicans co-sponsored the measure.

By granting Chinese nationals such visas, the U.S. has “invited” the Chinese Communist Party “to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property, and threaten national security,” Moore said in a statement. “It’s time we turn off the spigot and immediately ban all student visas going to Chinese nationals.”

The measure is unlikely to pass, and it has drawn criticism from organizations and scholars over concerns that hostile policies and rhetoric toward Chinese students could hurt U.S. interests.

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/chinese-student-republican-visa-ban-946e613a8dace3b0092580fa6fe4e50b

[VMA131Marine]

1. The thing is ...

There aren’t nearly as many Chinese students studying in U.S. universities as there used to be. Chinese universities have grown and improved dramatically over the last 20 years or so to the point that the gap between the quality of education between Chinese and U.S. schools has closed dramatically.

The number of Chinese students in the U.S.peaked at 370,000 in 2019-20 and is now down almost 100,000 to 277,000 in 2023-24. That’s more than a 25% drop in 4 years. It’s not even clear that there are enough Americans or other foreign nationals coming to US schools to take their places.