China condemns US faking charges against Chinese students for political purpose

The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Monday condemned the US for charging a Chinese student under the so-called crime of "visa fraud," saying such behavior was indiscriminate suppression for political purposes.

It was reported that a Chinese student was arrested and prosecuted by the US intelligence and security agency, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), under the so-called Presidential Proclamation 10043, accusing him of "intentionally concealing military education experience" and committing "visa fraud," which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. But the student only attended a few classes that the US authorities deemed "sensitive." Moreover, the FBI stole the student's personal information from his study application materials and used it as "evidence."

"The US' unreasonable detaining, interrogating and repatriating Chinese students, and fabricating charges against them, is indiscriminate suppression for political purposes, which China firmly opposes," the ministry's spokesperson Wang Wenbin said at a press briefing in Beijing.

Besides the case, three Chinese students were recently detained and interrogated by personnel from the US Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Homeland Security for an extended period of time, the Global Times reported.

Humanistic exchanges are the social foundation of China-US relations, and academic, educational, scientific and technological exchanges are an important part of the same, Wang stressed.

He noted that while the US side keeps saying that it supports such exchanges and welcomes Chinese students to the US, it still continues the wrong practices of the previous administration, abuses the concept of national security, restricts and suppresses Chinese students from going to the US to study or conduct research, which seriously undermines the lawful rights and interests of these Chinese students, and severely damages the atmosphere of normal China-US humanistic exchanges and educational cooperation.

"We urge the US side to put into practice its statement of welcoming Chinese students, revoke the prejudiced Presidential Proclamation 10043, and stop using national security as an excuse to suppress Chinese students studying in the US," said Wang.

China will continue to take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese citizens and also reminds students going to the US to be alert to related risks, he added.