China is protesting interrogations and deportations of its students at US border

BEIJING — The Chinese government has protested to the United States over the treatment of Chinese arriving to study in America, saying some have been interrogated for hours, had their electronic devices checked and in some cases were forcibly deported from the country. In a separate online statement, the Chinese Embassy said it had made “solemn representations” to the U.S. government about the treatment of students arriving at Dulles airport in Washington, D.C. China’s state media have reported at least three cases since November at Dulles where Chinese students lost their valid student visas, received a five-year entry ban and were repatriated following long hours of interrogations, They were asked if their studies were financed by the Chinese government, if they were members of the Chinese Communist Party or its youth arm, and if their research was linked to the Chinese government, the Chinese military or key state laboratories. The Chinese Embassy statement said the affected students had their electronic devices checked, were prohibited from communicating with anyone outside and, in some cases, held for more than 10 hours. It said the actions of border control officers “have had a serious impact on the studies of international students from China and caused great psychological harm.” The statement also said that the actions ran counter to the agreement between Presidents Joe Biden and Xi Jinping at their meeting last November to promote people-to-people exchanges.