Beijing backtracked on Thursday on a U.S. decision to withdraw more than one visa 1,000 Chinese students and researchers The American government felt that there was a security risk or that China had ties to the military.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said there was bias behind the visa decision.
He told a news conference on Thursday that the move was “purely political violence and racism, a serious violation of the human rights of Chinese students”, the state-owned Global Times.
Beijing It warned that it had the right to take further action, but did not elaborate.
Acting head of Department of Homeland Security, Chad Wolf, When the visa announcement was made on Wednesday, he accused China of abusing student visas to exploit the American academy and said China was trying to steal it. Coronavirus research.
In July, the Justice Department announced charges against two Chinese nationals – in China – for hacking governments, dissidents and private companies. COVID-19 Vaccine Research. The indictment alleges that the hackers were working for their own gain and for the main Chinese intelligence service, the Ministry of State Security.
China has denied the allegations.
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The visa action was taken under the May 29 announcement President Donald Trump In response to China’s controls Autonomy of Hong Kong, A State Department spokesman told Reuters.
The statement, which went into effect on June 1, targeted 3,000 to 5,000 people affiliated with universities or institutions in China who, according to the US, want to acquire foreign technology to benefit the Chinese military.
Students in China make up the majority of international students, with a few 360,000 attend American schools each year, Colleges generated approximately $ 14 billion in revenue – yet the COVID-19 pandemic severely damaged campus revenue this fall.
Sino-US relations have fallen to new lows In recent months, the two largest economies in the world have been grappling with issues ranging from trade Human rights To Hong Kong Yet Corona virus.
Trump expressing friendly relations Chinese President Xi Jinping, Touching China harshly was an important part of his campaign Re-election on November 3, And made allegations against his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, “Soft” towards Beijing.
In the latest sign of sourcing relations, China is state-owned People’s Daily newspaper The U.S. ambassador to China declined to comment on Wednesday, saying the article did not meet its criteria.
Reuters contributed to this report.
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