Rubio Promises To ‘Aggressively’ Target Students Tied To Chinese Communist Party

Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that the State Department would start to “aggressively” revoke the visas of Chinese students. 

Rubio said that the revocations would focus on those with close ties to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in “critical fields.” Rubio’s actions come after he froze all new student visa interviews pending the development of new admittance guidelines. 

“Under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” Rubio announced in a statement. “We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong.”

There are roughly 275,000 Chinese students studying in the United States. 

Chinese theft of American intellectual property has been a problem for years, and several Chinese students have been charged and convicted of espionage. 

In 2020, a Chinese woman studying at Boston University named Yanqing Ye fled the country after being accused of working for China while studying chemistry, physics, and biomedical engineering. According to the FBI, Ye was a lieutenant in the Chinese military but did not disclose that when she applied for a student visa. She reportedly gathered intelligence on two American scientists. 

In another incident, a Chinese student named Chaoqun Ji, who was attending the Illinois Institute of Technology, was convicted in 2023 of acting as an unregistered agent for China after gathering information on defense contractors. 

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The targeting of Chinese student visas comes as the Trump administration has increased vetting for what foreign students are allowed into the country. On Tuesday, Rubio signed a cable directing U.S. embassies to “not add any additional student or exchange visitor (F, M, and J) visa appointment capacity until further guidance is issued … which we anticipate in the coming days.”

The pause affects all applicants for student visas while the administration reportedly prepares guidance for expanded social media vetting requirements.

Rubio also took steps on Wednesday to implement new visa restrictions targeting foreigners “complicit” in censoring Americans.

“Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign nationals who are responsible for censorship of protected expression in the United States,” Rubio said. “It is unacceptable for foreign officials to issue or threaten arrest warrants on U.S. citizens or U.S. residents for social media posts on American platforms while physically present on U.S. soil.”

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