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US to let Chinese students start school year, easing Covid rules
WASHINGTON, April 27, 2021 (BSS/AFP) – The United States said Tuesday
it was easing remaining Covid-19 restrictions on international
students, giving the green light to Chinese nationals to start the
school year at US universities.
The move responds to persistent demands from US universities, which
increasingly rely financially on foreign students and count on China
for more than one-third of them — far more than any country.
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 Covid transmission.
The decision is “in keeping with the Department of State’s
commitment to facilitate legitimate travel to the United States,” a
statement said.
President Joe Biden’s administration in March similarly eased
restrictions for students from the European Union and Britain.
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.
All travelers will still be subject to the US requirement to present
a negative Covid test.
Foreign students — who generally pay full tuition — are a crucial
revenue source for US universities, which have been hit hard as Covid
forced much instruction to go online.
More than one million international students study in the United
States each year. They contributed $45 billion to the US economy in
2018, according to the Commerce Department.
It remains to be seen if enrollment will be hit not only by Covid
but by an increasingly tense atmosphere for Chinese students.
Former president Donald Trump ordered the expulsion of Chinese
students who have ties to the military, fearing they will steal US
knowhow, prompting concerns by some Asian-American activists that the
entire community was being painted with a broad brush of suspicion.
The United States has seen a wave of hate crimes against people of
Asian heritage, sometimes triggered by false association with
Covid-19.
India and South Korea are the second and third largest sources of
foreign students to the United States, and neither country faced
blanket bans over Covid.
BSS/AFP/MRU/2317hrs