Covid-19 collateral: foreign students locked out of China deserve compassion and consistency

Beijing’s strict policies and visa restrictions, as part of its war on Covid-19, have affected tens of thousands of international students hoping to begin or resume studies in China
Online learning and other half measures will never replace the hands-on experience and cultural understanding that comes with studying in another country

Curtis Chin

Published: 8:45am, 24 Feb 2021

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Sadly, in every war, there is collateral damage. Too often, that includes everyday people struggling to carry on with their lives amid conflict and disruption. That has certainly been the case as China’s war on the coronavirus has interrupted tens of thousands of international students hoping to begin or resume studies in China.

Many are from elsewhere in Asia and have been unable to enter the country because of mainland Chinese student visa restrictions and policies that have prioritised returning business executives over students. The persistence of Covid-19 cases in China has further added to the uncertainty for international students.

According to the Institute of International Education, more than 5.3 million higher education students were studying abroad in the 2019 school year. The US, UK and China were the top three destinations then, including nearly 1.1 million studying in the US, followed by 496,570 in the UK and 492,185 in China.

The quality and relatively lower cost of many Chinese higher education institutions have been a key draw. Scholarships and other support as part of China’s “soft power” efforts have also played a role in attracting students from across the Indo-Pacific region.

Of the nearly half a million international higher education students in China in the 2019 academic year, some 50,600 came from South Korea, followed by 28,608 from Thailand, 28,023 from Pakistan, 23,198 from India and 20,996 from the US. Come 2020, however, the disruption of the lives and studies of many of these and other students has become one more unintended consequence of China closing its borders.

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By late January 2021, China could claim its heavy-handed approach – from lockdowns and mass testing of entire cities to the forced removal of individuals with Covid-19 from family homes – had worked. More than a year since the first reported cases of Covid-19 emerged from Wuhan, China has officially reported only around 100,000 total cases and about 4,800 deaths.

Unlike much of the world, China does not include the number of new asymptomatic cases in its tally of confirmed cases and might have undercounted overall cases. Still, the contrast between China’s numbers and those of the home nations of many international students seeking to enter China is stark.

For example, in South Asia, India has reported more than 11 million cases and 156,000 deaths while Pakistan has reported some 573,000 cases and 12,600 deaths. For Bangladesh, it is 543,000 cases and more than 8,300 deaths. Those numbers are a fraction of the US’ reported 28 million cases and 500,000 deaths.

Under President Xi Jinping, China certainly brooks no argument at home as it manages the news of its aggressive countermeasures against the coronavirus. It recently added the BBC to its growing list of blocked media outlets in China. Some of its “wolf warrior” diplomats have been called out for spreading conspiracy theories and misleading information about Covid-19 vaccines made outside China.

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Yet, unfettered by China’s own social media controls, many international students locked out of China and stranded abroad have taken to Twitter and other platforms to voice their anxiety and frustration with Chinese authorities.

Many have taken to using the hashtags #TakeUsBackToChina and #TakeUsBackToSchool. The posts can be heartbreaking, with students speaking of broken relationships, financial challenges, depression and other mental health issues.

According to a Twitter account under the name “China International Students”, a group calling itself the China International Students Union has been created. The group says it has attracted more than 13,000 international students who would otherwise be studying on campus at 200 universities in China. They have created an open letter to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs seeking clarity on a return date.

The reality is that for these and other students, online learning and other half measures that some Chinese universities have offered will never replace the hands-on experience and cultural understanding that comes with studying in person in another country. This is particularly true for laboratory and fieldwork, as well as medical residency programmes.

Another sad reality is that Chinese authorities still worried about Covid-19 and pandemic-related discontent at home are unlikely to pay much attention to the pleas of international students from elsewhere, despite any rhetoric of solidarity with other developing nations.

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There is, however, a short-term way forward that might at least help China retain some goodwill among disillusioned students. Chinese authorities should err on the side of greater communication and compassion to students whose lives and education have been disrupted by travel restrictions.

China’s approach must also include consistency and equal treatment of all international higher education students. No matter where they are from, all students seeking to begin or resume studies in China should be treated equally.

Until that time, more international students might question their decision to study in China, especially as counterparts return to schools elsewhere. As an example, more than 1,000 international students have now received exemptions to enter Australia, despite its own strict rules. The decision cited rural, regional and remote communities that relied heavily on overseas student graduates from Australian medical schools.

Nearly one year since the World Health Organization declared a pandemic, the world – including China – has made tremendous progress in developing treatments and vaccines to fight back against Covid-19.

How sad that there has not been the same commitment to and progress in addressing some of the indirect consequences of that battle, including the inability of many international students to continue in-person learning in China. Coronavirus visa uncertainty has turned many foreign students against China.

They, however, must recognise that this is less about China’s ability to change and more about its will to make a difference. As in so many other areas, making such a change would be to China’s own benefit as well.

Curtis S. Chin, a former US ambassador to the Asian Development Bank, is managing director of advisory firm RiverPeak Group and a long-time advocate for educational exchange. Follow him on Twitter at @CurtisSChin