Relaxation of US travel bans on students hailed
Print Edition
China said yesterday that it was a positive step by the United States to ease COVID-19 restrictions on Chinese students to enter US this fall.
The US government announced on Tuesday that students from China would be exempt from the remaining travel bans related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
China has made major strategic achievements in its fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, recognized globally, foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said. He added that China hopes the United States would make proper arrangements for Chinese personnel to go to the United States and create favorable conditions for resuming personnel exchanges between the two sides.
The Joe Biden administration said it was easing restrictions on Chinese and other students traveling to the US this fall, potentially helping colleges whose enrollments declined during the coronavirus pandemic.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that students with valid visas from China, Iran, Brazil and South Africa would qualify for exemptions to entry bans in place over the past year due to concerns of coronavirus transmission. The State Department made the change for European students in March.
Under the latest exemption, students will need to have visas to attend universities for classes starting on August 1 or later, and cannot enter the United States more than one month beforehand.
Around 372,000 Chinese accounted for 35 percent of international students in the United States in the 2019-20 school year, according to the International Education Exchange, nearly twice as many as the second-highest students from India.
Overall enrolments in tertiary education fell 2.5 percent in autumn 2020, nearly twice the decline reported in fall 2019, according to the National Student Clearinghouse.
In January 2020, then-president Donald Trump barred nearly all non-US citizens, who were in China, from entering the United States.
“I’m really glad the Biden administration is restoring at least some level of normalcy after the disruption by the pandemic and the horrible policies of Trump,” said Zhang, 23.
The Beijing native said he planned to pursue postgraduate studies at the University of California, Berkeley.
The American Council on Education had pressed the Biden administration to act quickly, saying in a letter last month it could “deliver a welcoming message to current and prospective international students, which can help restore the US as a destination of choice, as well as supporting an important economic activity as the US economy recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.”
It is still unclear whether US colleges or the US government will recognize vaccinations received by Chinese students that have not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration. Some US schools are requiring students to be fully vaccinated before classes resume.
Another big issue has been the requirement that first-time student visa applicants have in-person interviews at US embassies and consulates. The State Department said on Tuesday it “continues to seek ways to process more visa applications, in line with science-based guidance from health authorities.”
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