A group of congressmen from the US House of Representatives have introduced a bill to ban Chinese students from accessing American educational institutions. The measure is part of actions by some congressmen in the US against Beijing for national security reasons, the Associated Press reported, quoted by BTA.
Congressman Riley Moore from West Virginia has introduced the bill, which could ban Chinese citizens from obtaining visas to study or participate in educational exchange programs in the United States. The text is co-sponsored by five other Republicans.
By providing such visas to Chinese citizens, the US is "inviting" the Chinese Communist Party "to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property and threaten national security," Moore said. "It is time to turn off this faucet and ban all student visas for Chinese citizens."
The measure is unlikely to pass and has drawn criticism from non-governmental organizations and academics who believe that such hostile policies and rhetoric against Chinese students could harm American interests, the Associated Press notes.
"No policy should be directed against individuals solely because of their national origin," said Fanta Au, executive director of NAFSA, an international teachers' association. "Turning foreign students into the most scrutinized and monitored non-immigrants in the United States - a scapegoat for xenophobic and anti-Chinese sentiments - is wrong and contrary to our national interests."
A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in Washington said that Beijing "expresses deep concern and firmly opposes such practices". According to him, educational exchanges and cooperation have long been one of the pillars for the stable development of Sino-US relations.
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Source: www.bta.bg