Chinese students reconsidering the US as Republicans threaten their visas

Critics say proposed law xenophobic and wrongheaded, will deprive states of revenue

- Robert Draper

AUSTIN, Texas — Over lunch at the University of Texas at Austin, a professor from China and two Chinese students spoke dispiritedly this past week of the directive issued by Secretary of State Marco Rubio to "aggressively revoke" visas of Chinese nationals studying in "critical fields". They also talked about a Republican Bill in Congress that would ban Chinese student visas to the U.S.

Even if such matters never come to pass, said Professor Xiaobo Lu of the department of government at the university in Austin, "the damage is already being done".

"Chinese students are practical," he said. "They now have to consider whether, if they come to America, their studies will be disrupted. There's no removing that uncertainty. That ship has sailed."

The two students accompanying Prof Lu to lunch, who asked not to be named for fear that their visa status might be at risk, described several recent conversations with Chinese friends. One had decided to turn down offers at two prestigious American journalism schools and had opted instead for the programme at the University of Hong Kong. Another said no to a coveted slot at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in favour of a modest local government job.

A third Chinese friend, now studying at Johns Hopkins University, is mulling over whether to pack his bags and finish his degree back home.

Their accounts align with sentiments shared by a senior academic official at the University of Texas, who said that several excellent graduate school candidates from China had withdrawn their applications. The official added that a number of Chinese students on the Austin campus were afraid to criticise the measures. He spoke on the condition of anonymity because he shared those fears.

There are about 1,400 Chinese students on the Austin campus. A spokesperson for the university said that its administrators would have no comment.