Republicans in the US House of Representatives plan to introduce a bill on Friday to block Chinese citizens from getting student visas, citing their potential to serve as spies for Beijing, and adding fresh fuel to a debate about attracting needed foreign talent while addressing national security concerns.
Representative Riley Moore of West Virginia, a first-term congressman, is the sponsor of the “Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act”, which would halt issuance of student or research visas for all Chinese nationals.
The bill, which goes further than most previous attempts to restrict Chinese students, would have to pass the full House and Senate before it could be signed into law.
As yet, it has no confirmed cosponsors. According to Fox News, expected supporters include Republican Representatives Andy Ogles of Tennessee, Brandon Gill of Texas and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania.
Moore’s legislation comes as US President Donald Trump’s administration is reportedly weighing a new travel ban for citizens from a select group of countries, though there is no indication yet that China is on that list.
International students have come under fire in the early weeks of the new Trump administration. On Thursday, demonstrators entered Trump Tower in Manhattan to protest the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a legal permanent resident of the US whom the Trump administration wants to deport over his pro-Palestinian activism at Columbia University.
