Political tensions between the U.S. and China have escalated to a new level following the former’s claims that China has been involved in intellectual property theft and China’s announcement of its plans to become the world leader in trending fields such as artificial intelligence. The U.S. government is planning to reduce the duration of visa granted to some Chinese graduate students with the intent of protecting national security. While it was known that the U.S. was planning to revamp its policy around visas for Chinese students, earlier this month the new policy was confirmed during a hearing on student visas.   

According to the new policy, Chinese students who plan to study high-tech fields such as robotics and advanced manufacturing will be granted a visa that will be valid for one year as against the five years offered previously, reports Science. This could make it difficult for students from China to participate in collaborative projects with researchers in the U.S. and across the globe.

In the hearing, some policymakers voiced concerns over Chinese students’ access to U.S. intellectual property and believed in the need to moderate it. Questions were also raised over the ability of educational institutions in safeguarding military secrets and intelligence that could compromise national security.

Chinese students comprise one third of the total international student population in the U.S. universities. Therefore, this policy reform could have negative cost implications for universities that rely on the revenue generated from the fees paid by international students. Moreover, there is some amount of uncertainty around the execution of the policy as higher education organizations are unclear about which students groups would be affected. Another important concern U.S. academics have expressed is that the restriction of Chinese talent could impact the U.S. scientific progress as well.  

Dave Rank, the former deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy to China, believes that the policy may be inept in safeguarding national security. According to him, if the policy is supposed to prevent the entry and stay of those Chinese students who may in time access sensitive information and take it back to their country, it may be difficult to screen and stop them as there are several loopholes that they can take advantage of. Rank suggests that the U.S. should adopt a different approach, one that is in keeping with the nation’s values and reduces its susceptibility to theft of intelligence and military secrets.

This is not the first time U.S. President Donald Trump has taken steps to restrict the entry of foreign nationals in the country. In 2017, he had suspending the issuance of visas to citizens from seven Muslim-majority countries that had academics worried. The implications of the latest move on both China and the U.S. will became clearer with time, but current opinions on the policy are divided.   

Related reading:

• How Trump’s immigration order affects scientists
• Trump's immigration ban is already having a chilling effect on science
• China aspires to lead the world in artificial intelligence by 2030

References:

• More restrictive U.S. policy on Chinese graduate student visas raises alarm
• The Consequences of Curbing Chinese STEM Graduate Student US Visas