On July 3, the 14th World Peace Forum opened in Beijing. At a press conference that afternoon, former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State and former Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, Fiona Chen, said that the continuous decline in the number of Chinese students studying in the United States is detrimental to both countries. She also stated that the US practice of treating Chinese students as "spies" and denying them visas is foolish.
In 2020, during his first term in office, Trump signed Presidential Proclamation No. 10043, which prohibited certain students and scholars from obtaining visas under the pretext of "anti-spying". According to incomplete statistics, as of 2024, more than 5,000 Chinese students and scholars have been denied visas or deported due to this measure.
Feng Jiaoshi stated that such situations do exist, and as a result, bilateral exchanges between China and the United States have been affected. He said, “What the United States is doing now is wrong, counterproductive, and foolish.” He added that although these restrictions are not “exclusively targeted at China,” they are part of the overall anti-foreign and anti-immigration policies of the Trump administration. However, this cannot serve as an excuse for wrong policies.
Feng Jia Shi mentioned that due to relevant policies, the number of Chinese students in the United States has decreased from 400,000 to over 300,000, while the number of American students going to China has reduced from several thousand to about 500. 'I think this is detrimental to both sides, and it will take two election cycles before we see any signs of improvement.'
He believes that the United States, as an immigrant nation, is in an 'abnormal period'. Immigrants from various countries are now affected by anti-immigration policies. 'Only changes in electoral policies can correct these policies, as they are not in line with public opinion. 70% of the American public says this is not a correct policy, and it cannot continue in the same way.'
