China protests repatriation of student by US

China has made solemn representations with the United States over the repatriation of a Chinese student, and urged the US to prevent such incidents from happening again.

The Foreign Ministry is aware that the student, who has a legal visa issued by the US government, and was going to conduct cancer research in the US, was recently denied entry and repatriated, Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Wednesday.

China is "seriously concerned" by the "harassment and suppression of Chinese students by the US law enforcement department", Wang said.

The US has disrupted normal people-to-people exchanges with China, which form the "social foundation" of bilateral ties, the spokesman said.

"The US keeps saying it welcomes Chinese students, but in fact has carried on the erroneous approach adopted by its previous administration by restricting and suppressing their study or research in the US, seriously undermining their lawful rights and interests," Wang said.

There have been repeated reports about US restrictions on Chinese people studying there in the past few years, in spite of the current US administration's apparent welcome of bilateral people-to-people exchanges.

Three Chinese students with legal visas were interrogated upon arrival at the Houston Airport in August 2021 before being repatriated.

In the same year, more than 500 Chinese students wrote a letter to the Chinese embassy in the US, complaining that their US visa applications were rejected as a result of Presidential Proclamation 10043.

The proclamation, signed by then US president Donald Trump in 2020, suspends the entry of "certain "Chinese students and researchers.

Wang, the spokesman, on Wednesday urged the US to revoke the proclamation, stop abusing the concept of national security, and stop interrogating, harassing or repatriating Chinese citizens studying in the US.

China will continue to support its citizens studying abroad in protecting their own legitimate rights and interests according to law, Wang said, reminding those studying in the US to watch out for "related risks".