Beijing [China], May 30 : China opposed its student visas revocation by the United States and said that this decision of the Trump administration exposes "hypocrisy behind US claims of freedom."
Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China, Lin Jian, said that the move is "unjustified" and "disrupts" people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
In a social media post on X, Lin Jian said, "The US decision to revoke Chinese student visas is fully unjustified. Citing ideology and national security as a pretext, the move seriously hurts the lawful rights and interests of international students from China and disrupts people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. China firmly opposes this action and has protested to the US over the decision."
Calling the US decision politically motivated, Lin Jian said this will damage the image and reputation of Washington itself.
"This politically motivated and discriminatory move exposes the hypocrisy behind the US's claims of freedom and openness. It will further damage the image and reputation of the US itself," he said.
On Wednesday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields.
In a social media post on X, Rubio wrote, "The U.S. will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields."
This further widens an already strained relationship between the US and China, which backtracked after Trump threatened China with reciprocal tariffs.
The US President introduced his "reciprocal" tariffs, placing substantial duties on imports from some of the United States' key trading partners. This led to a tariff war between both countries, with Trump indicating that the tariffs may go up to as high as 245 per cent.
However, both countries arrived at an agreement on May 12 and withdrew their previously announced tariffs. Currently, China imposes 10 per cent tariffs on US goods, and the US will tax Chinese goods at about 30 per cent.