Watson's Entry Repatriation by Interrogation The Chinese Embassy: Carefully choose the route to Houston

The official website of the Chinese Embassy in the United States released an article on the 28th entitled "Reminding Chinese Students To Carefully Choose to Enter the Houston Route", saying that several Chinese students who recently came to the United States to study were interrogated when they entered the Houston airport, and even some people were restricted from their personal freedom for more than 50 hours, and finally were unreasonably repatriated, seriously damaging Watson's legitimate rights and interests. In this regard, the Chinese Embassy in the United States has lodged solemn representations with the US side.

The article said that for a long time, US law enforcement personnel have carried out arbitrary detention and interrogation, nuisance, confiscation of personal belongings and other cases of Chinese students entering the United States. Recently, such cases have occurred again at the Houston airport, where several Chinese students studying in the United States were interrogated when they entered the Houston airport, and some people were even restricted from their personal freedom for more than 50 hours, and finally were unreasonably repatriated to China, seriously harming the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students.

The article said that the Chinese Embassy in the United States has made solemn representations to the US side in this regard, urging the US side to correct its mistakes and stop using various excuses to unreasonably restrict and suppress Chinese students studying abroad.

The article emphasizes that the Chinese Embassy and Consulates in the United States will continue to support Chinese students studying abroad in safeguarding their legitimate and legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law, and reminds students studying abroad to improve their safety awareness, carefully consider the problems that may be encountered when studying in the United States, strengthen prevention, and properly respond. In case of emergency, please contact the Chinese Embassy or Consulates in the United States for assistance.

Earlier, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said at a regular press conference on August 30 that on August 15, three Chinese students with legal visas were interrogated by the United States and repatriated to China on the grounds that the three were funded by the Chinese government or that military training photos were found in their personal mobile phones, so they were suspected of having military backgrounds. The Chinese side is strongly dissatisfied with this and resolutely opposes this, and has made solemn representations to the US side on this issue.

Wang Wenbin said that the US side has repatriated Chinese students under the pretext of catching wind and catching shadows and even absurd, which has seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students studying in the United States and seriously undermined normal people-to-people exchanges and educational cooperation between China and the United States. This discriminatory practice of studying students in specific countries is completely contrary to the SELF-proclaimed concept of openness and freedom of the United States and its statement of welcoming Chinese students, and runs counter to the trend of the times of carrying out international talent exchanges. China urges the US side to correct its mistakes, stop using various pretexts to unreasonably restrict and suppress Chinese students, and stop words and deeds that undermine People-to-People Exchanges between China and the United States. China will continue to support Chinese students studying abroad in safeguarding their legitimate and legitimate rights and interests in accordance with the law.

At the end of April this year, the U.S. State Department issued a notice that from August 1, students holding F/M visas will no longer be affected by the "entry ban" and can fly directly from China to the United States. At the same time, the United States began speeding up the approval process for Chinese student visas in May.

The U.S. Mission in China announced on August 25 that more than 85,000 student visas have been issued since May. According to the U.S. mission in China, the number of student and scholar visa applications processed by the mission is the largest in the whole year each summer, and students and scholars from China have greatly promoted the diversification of the United States, which is the premier destination for chinese students in the world. Over the past decade, the number of students from China has tripled, and we are proud of the exchange. (End)