BEIJING: An increasing number of Chinese students and tech professionals are expressing their alarm on social media about being harassed in what they described as a “small dark room” at the secondary inspection areas of immigration and border authorities in the United States.
The trend has sparked heightened concerns among international students about travelling to the US, in turn fuelling calls for the US to halt the revocation of legally obtained visas and stemming the disruption to people-to-people exchanges.
Chinese student Chen Guo (not his real name) began his journey to Boston, Massachusetts, in 2022 after he was accepted by Harvard Medical School. However, his academic dream quickly turned into a nightmare when, on arrival in the US city, he was subjected to an 18-hour secondary inspection by US Customs and Border Protection officers.
Sharing his harrowing experience on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu earlier this year, Chen described how the officers scrutinised his emails and online browsing history and chat records.
The ordeal reached its climax when they discovered a screenshot of a news photo celebrating a successful Chinese satellite launch in his digital album. Despite his legally obtained visa, Chen’s entry was denied and he was unceremoniously deported.
“They made me stand against a wall with a measuring scale for a photo; isn’t that how criminals are photographed?” Chen said. “I never thought I would face such mental humiliation.”
Two weeks after Chen was deported, he received a collect parcel from the US, which charged him US$50 in postal fees and contained his electronic devices seized by US Customs.
A Chinese employee surnamed Liu, from an international Internet company specialising in short video services, shared a similar ordeal through his WeChat public account.
Liu had thought he was on a routine business trip, departing from Guarulhos International Airport in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on March 14, 2023.
He wrote in his WeChat social media account, “Life has become increasingly simple in middle age, and a single backpack is enough for a five-day business trip across continents.”
However, his experience at the border in Houston, Texas, shattered his relaxed and cheerful mood after getting off the plane.
A CBP officer subjected him to the secondary inspection area at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Liu’s electronic devices were seized and he was interrogated for over 10 hours.
“They asked me if I and my company were engaged in data theft, spreading sensitive information and connected to Chinese governments,” Liu said.
Liu’s valid visa was eventually revoked despite his role in company logistics strategy, leading to his deportation from the US and a severe blow to his career. Liu later learned from a CBP officer that his sufferings arose because his name was similar to that of a Chinese scientist.
The secondary inspection area is referred to as the “small dark room” on Chinese social media, although interviewees clarify it is not literally small or dark, but labelled so due to the harassment and oppressive atmosphere.
More than 30 Chinese students from computer-related fields have been subjected to unwarranted harassment, scrutiny and deportation by US authorities, according to latest accounts.
Most were graduate students whose research areas included artificial intelligence, information science, cybersecurity, electrical engineering, software engineering and electronic information engineering.
“When the students applied for their visas, the US side would have done the necessary security background checks. That is to say, they passed the security risk screening to get the visa,” said Wu Xinbo, dean of Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies and director of the Center for American Studies at Fudan University.
“But now even if you get a visa, it is highly possible that you can be refused entry and deported when you enter the US, which is not reasonable.”
Shi Yinhong, director of the Center on American Studies at Renmin University of China, said that these “absurd incidents” have been on the rise amid the escalating “China threat” rhetoric, with the US increasingly viewing China as its main competitor.
Shi said that the focus on “national security” signals a rise in protectionism and underscores US insecurity about advancements in science and technology.
Wu from Fudan University said the political motivation behind the phenomenon is clear — it aims to control and restrict cultural exchanges between the two countries for “national security”, directly leading to a decline in people-to-people interactions.
Many online discussion forums have been organised through Chinese social media platforms to address the concerns, with students sharing their educational backgrounds and internship experiences and asking whether their academic credentials might affect their visa applications and entry.
“For students majoring in business and data at my university, will there be issues with visa approvals? I believe my major isn’t sensitive, but I’m worried that pursuing this degree might be futile,” asked one forum participant.
“Depends on your luck,” replied another forum user.
Chen, the student who was heading to Harvard Medical School, advised through his social media account that Chinese students from universities identified as “sensitive” by the US should consider refraining from pursuing studies or postdoctoral positions in the country.
A student surnamed Chou who graduated in 2022 from the University of California, San Diego, said the US has long claimed to be a “lighthouse of openness and inclusiveness”, but its actions “run into the opposite direction”.
“Compared to the risk of being inspected and deported during each trip to and from the US, it is a wiser choice to pursue higher education outside the US,” Chou said.
“We have already witnessed a significant decrease in the number of Chinese students studying in the US over the past two years, and this downward trend is expected to persist,” Fudan University’s Wu said.
According to the Open Doors Report on International Educational Exchange, while China remains the largest source of international students in the US, the total number has dropped from 372,532 to 289,526 in the past four years. India surpassed China to become the largest source of international graduate students in 2023. The proportion of Chinese students in engineering fields is also decreasing annually.
A source from an overseas study consultancy firm in Shanghai said that US visa rejection rates for doctoral students in high-tech fields are notably high.
Even when they are not rejected, the students face rigorous scrutiny, prompting many to seek study opportunities in other countries like Britain, Singapore and Australia or at European universities.
Experts said that under the pretext of safeguarding national security, US law enforcement authorities have overstretched the concept of national security and arbitrarily interrogated and repatriated Chinese students, which has caused a “chilling effect” and seriously affected the atmosphere of people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
“The US attitude toward cultural and educational exchanges might be influenced by the US election and political situation,” said Wu from Fudan University, adding that the US should act responsibly and be more open and inclusive in people-to-people exchanges. - China Daily/ANN
