According to a report by China Daily, recently, some Chinese students have forwarded news in the circle of friends that there have been a number of incidents of interrogation and repatriation of Chinese students at Washington Dulles Airport in the United States. It is reported that since November last year, the border officers at Dulles Airport have unreasonably interrogated and repatriated five Chinese students within a month, a record high.
According to reports, four of the international students held legal and valid U.S. visas and did not have any criminal records, but they were detained for interrogation when they re-entered the United States after returning to China to visit relatives, attend conferences or travel, and one scholar went to the United States for the first time to engage in postdoctoral research.
However, the US law enforcement officers acted in an arrogant and unreasonable manner during the investigation, forcibly demanding mobile phone passwords, inspecting the electronic devices carried without restrictions, and repeatedly asking the parties about their research directions, academic backgrounds, whether they are funded by the Chinese government, and whether the scientific research projects are related to the Chinese government and military. One student was even reportedly taken into a "small black room" for three rounds of interrogation that lasted up to 10 hours.
After the examination, three of them were deactivated on the spot with legally valid U.S. visas, and the other two were told that their visas were invalid, but did not explain the reason. Eventually, they were all deported, and some of the students were told that they would not be allowed to enter the United States for five years.
The United States is so arrogant, it is clear that it is politicizing the issue of normal Chinese students studying in the United States, and not long after the meeting between the Chinese and US heads of state in San Francisco, the United States has returned to its old virtues. You must know that the San Francisco meeting between the Chinese and US heads of state emphasized the importance of people-to-people exchanges between China and the United States, and determined to encourage the expansion of international students. The United States has played a trick of "one thing in front of you and one thing behind your back."
In fact, it is not the first time that the United States has done this, an average of 10 international students are repatriated every month, and the most outrageous was in 2017, when the reason given by the U.S. Customs to deport an international student was that she loved to fool around.
During the 12-hour interrogation, customs not only denied her food and drink, but also made irrelevant accusations against her, such as poor academic performance. When the school director called to confirm her student status, Customs instead accused her of her poor grades. In the end, she was told that she would be barred from entering the United States for the next five years.
Perhaps there is no legal basis, in order to block the mouths of the people, the United States used the law to promulgate a bill specifically for Chinese students - Presidential Decree 10043, which is also a nightmare for all Chinese students.
In May 2020, President Trump signed an executive order PP10043 that allows consular officers to deny visas to the U.S. because of a student's major, research direction, university (e.g., Beihang University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin Engineering, Western University of Technology, Southern Institute of Technology, China Southern Airlines, etc.), and funding from the China Scholarship Council.
The executive order has resulted in the denial of visa applications from more than 500 Chinese students who have received offers from U.S. colleges and universities.
Most of these affected students graduated from the specific schools mentioned by the PP10043 and plan to travel to the United States to pursue a master's or doctoral degree in a STEM major. These include Harvard University, Yale University, University of California, Berkeley, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Johns Hopkins University, and other well-known universities, and involve STEM majors such as computer, mechanical, electrical and electronic engineering, chemistry, materials science, and biomedicine.
Not only that, but the United States has also formulated a "special plan for China" to find spies, which is actually aimed at torturing Chinese scientists in the United States.
It is not an exaggeration to say that it is torture, and the security agencies require scientists not only to account for their exchange programs with China, but also to investigate their historical history, financial transactions, and so on. For scientists of Chinese descent, in particular, the censorship standards are stricter, and even the need to voluntarily report interactions with distant relatives. The slightest omission could trigger a rigorous interrogation by the security agencies.
But in fact, we have to thank the United States for doing this, with the assistance of the United States, a large number of scientists chose to go to China, which has played an important role in promoting the development of China's scientific research results. In the past, China's scientific research was only aimed at catching up with the United States, but with the assistance of these scientists, Chinese scientific research has shown signs of surpassing.
According to statistics released by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China, the number of papers published in the most influential journals in various disciplines in China reached 16,349, accounting for 30.3% of the global total, surpassing the United States for the first time and becoming the world's first.