US to revoke visas of Chinese students tied to Communist Party and studying in critical fields
The visas of those studying in critical fields will also be revoked, Mr Rubio said in a post on X. He said visa criteria would be revised to enhance scrutiny of all future applications from mainland China and Hong Kong.
The post did not include any additional details. The National has contacted the State Department for comment.
China had the second highest number of international students in the US in 2023-2024, with 277,398, according to the Institute of International Education. In that same time period, the US hosted a record 1.1 million international students.
This comes after the State Department issued a directive pausing interviews for foreign students looking to come to study in the US.
It is unclear how long the freeze will last, but a memo from the State Department said it was to allow for preparation to increase scrutiny of applicants' social media posts.
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