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The US will also ‘enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications’ from China and Hong Kong, the State Department said.
The United States will “aggressively revoke” the visas of Chinese students studying in the country, Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced, as the Trump administration continues its crackdown on foreign students enrolled at higher education institutions in the US.
Rubio announced the shock move in a post on X and a State Department statement published late on Wednesday titled “New Visa Policies Put America First, Not China”.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, the US State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” the statement said.
“We will also revise visa criteria to enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications from the People’s Republic of China and Hong Kong,” it added.
China is the second-largest country of origin for international students in the US, behind only India. Chinese students made up roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the US during the 2023-2024 school year at more than 270,000.
The action comes at a time of growing friction between the Washington and Beijing after President Donald Trump, accusing China of exploiting the US on trade, triggered a tariff war upon returning to the White House.
US House Republicans have also called established ties between US and Chinese academic institutions a threat to national security. Earlier this month, Michigan congressmen John Moolenaar and Tim Walberg pressed Duke University to end its relationship with Wuhan University over concerns about technology transfer.
Moolenaar and Walberg claimed the partnership created a “direct pipeline between US innovation and China’s military-industrial complex”.
Rubio’s announcement on Wednesday also added to more general uncertainty for international students in the US, who have faced intensifying scrutiny over recent months amid the administration’s wider assault on higher education institutions.
On Tuesday, the White House also temporarily suspended the processing of visas for foreign students, ordering embassies and consulates not to allow any additional student or exchange visas “until further guidance is issued”.
The State Department also said it plans to “issue guidance on expanded social media vetting for all such applications”.
Last week, the administration also revoked Harvard University’s approval to enrol international students. A federal judge has temporarily blocked the move, which comes in response to a tussle between the White House and Harvard over the school’s handing of pro-Palestine protests and diversity programmes.
This latest crackdown on foreign students also comes as Rubio and the State Department have sought to rescind hundreds of education visas over alleged minor legal infractions, political advocacy, or incendiary speech.
Many of those targets for visa revocations and arrests have been students who participated in pro-Palestine protests that have erupted on campuses across the US opposing Israel’s war on Gaza.
Others are individuals with indirect links to Palestine or those who have shown support for the Palestinian cause on social media.
The Trump administration accuses them of spreading anti-Semitism on campus – a claim students, lawyers and activists deny.
