The U.S. will begin revoking visas of Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” Rubio wrote on X.
The State Department confirmed the action in a short press release, stating that it will work with the Department of Homeland Security to “aggressively revoke” the visas. It will also revise the visa criteria and “enhance scrutiny of all future visa applications” from China and Hong Kong.
The Epoch Times reached out to the State Department for further comment on the matter.
According to the State Department, the Chinese regime monitors Chinese students, mobilizing them through the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA). Some CSSA branches in the United States have openly admitted that they are directed, supported, or financed by Chinese consulates. These students have been known to attempt forced cancellation of events or speeches hosted by overseas dissident groups at U.S. schools.
The FBI warns on its website that the CCP uses its post-graduate students and post-doctorate researchers in fields like engineering, science, and mathematics to “operate as non-traditional collectors of intellectual property.”
“China is the world’s principal infringer of intellectual property. The annual cost to the U.S. economy of counterfeit goods, pirated software, and theft of trade secrets is between $225 billion and $600 billion,” the FBI states.
Rubio’s announcement comes two months after House Republicans raised the issue of Chinese student visas on March 14.
Introduced, in part, by Rep. Riley Moore (R-W. Va.), the “Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act of 2025,” or “Stop CCP VISAs Act of 2025,” would ban Chinese citizens from obtaining student visas, citing CCP-related national security concerns.
“Every year we allow nearly 300,000 Chinese nationals to come to the U.S. on student visas. We’ve literally invited the CCP to spy on our military, steal our intellectual property, and threaten national security,” Moore said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
The bill was co-sponsored by Reps. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), Scott Perry (R-Pa.), Addison McDowell (R-N.C.), Andrew Ogles (R-Tenn.), Troy Nehls (R-Texas), Owens Burgess (R-Utah), and Mary Miller (R-Ill.)
“The Chinese Communist Party is fundamentally opposed to our American values, and yet we have handed out hundreds of thousands of student visas to Chinese nationals, many of whom are state-sponsored spies,” Gill said in a statement to The Epoch Times.
Recent Cases
Some Chinese nationals who have gained access to the United States under student visas have also been at the center of legal matters concerning national security.
In 2020, Ye Yanqin, a lieutenant in the People’s Liberation Army, who attended Boston University from October 2017 to April 2019 on an exchange program, was charged by federal prosecutors with allegedly concealing her continued military service on her visa application. She allegedly completed “numerous assignments” for the Chinese military, including sending U.S. documents to China and retrieving U.S. military intelligence.
In October 2024, five Chinese nationals who were students at the University of Michigan as part of a joint program with the China-based Shanghai Jiao Tong University were indicted after being accused of misleading investigators about their trip to a remote military site in-state and conspiring to delete photo evidence from their cell phones.
In December 2024, Wen Shenghua, a Chinese national, was arrested in California for allegedly making military shipments to North Korea. Shengua had also overstayed his student visa.
More Visa Changes
The news also comes one day after a senior State Department official confirmed to The Epoch Times that an internal cable was sent to American embassies around the world, pausing student visa interviews effective May 27.
That suspension, according to the cable, which prohibits consular sections from adding any appointment slots for student and exchange visitor visas “until further guidance is issued,” was part of an effort to strengthen the vetting process of visa applicants, specifically regarding social media screenings.
“There is no right to a student visa,” Rubio told reporters in March. “We can cancel a student visa under the law just the same way that we can deny a student visa under the law. And we will do so in cases we find appropriate.”
This announcement also comes hours after Rubio announced new visa restrictions for foreign nationals found to be involved with censoring the free speech of U.S. citizens.
“For too long, Americans have been fined, harassed, and even charged by foreign authorities for exercising their free speech rights,” Rubio announced in a post on X.
“Today, I am announcing a new visa restriction policy that will apply to foreign officials and persons who are complicit in censoring Americans. Free speech is essential to the American way of life—a birthright over which foreign governments have no authority.”
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DHS Presents ‘Absolutely Staggering’ Statistics Of How Many Chinese Nationals Enroll At US Colleges
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin condemned American universities on Fox Business Thursday for what she called their “complicity” in Chinese Communist Party espionage.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday the State Department will begin aggressively revoking visas held by Chinese students, citing national security concerns. During an appearance on “The Evening Edit,” McLaughlin highlighted that more than 277,000 Chinese nationals were enrolled in U.S. colleges, while only 800 American students were studying in China.
“I found this statistic to be absolutely staggering. In the academic year 2024, there were 277,000 Chinese nationals who were studying here at academic institutions here in the United States. On the other hand, there were only 800 Americans who were studying at universities over in China. That’s pretty staggering, and the reason is because the Chinese Communist Party, for decades and decades with impunity, have been exploiting U.S. visa systems and other programs that we’ve been using with academic institutions,” McLaughlin said.
McLaughlin praised Rubio, alongside President Donald Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, for taking action.
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“They’ve been doing it to advance the Communist Chinese Party. They’ve been doing it to advance espionage and steal our intellectual property. Thank God we finally have President Donald Trump and Secretary Rubio and Secretary Kristi Noem, who actually put Americans first and recognized that we have a real national security crisis on our hands,” McLaughlin added. “And we should finally be putting American students first.”
McLaughlin also discussed recent reports of antisemitism on college campuses, with the spokeswoman citing an internal Harvard study saying that six out of 10 Jewish students reported facing discrimination.
“60% of Jewish students on Harvard’s campus faced antisemitism. This campus has fostered violence, not just to Jewish students, but all students. They’ve also fostered a cooperation with the Chinese Communist Party. They, in fact, facilitated training exercises with a group that was involved in the Uyghur genocide,” McLaughlin said.
“So what Harvard has been doing is pro-terrorism, anti-American, and we shouldn’t be using U.S. taxpayer dollars to be funding this type of anti-American activity. These kind of programs, these kind of visas, are a cash cow for Harvard, and we shouldn’t be promoting anti-Americanism at our own dollars,” McLaughlin said.
The State Department temporarily paused visa interview appointments for international students as it develops new procedures to examine applicants’ social media profiles. This move marks another step in President Donald Trump’s broader push to tighten immigration policies, following his recent call for Harvard University to limit its foreign student enrollment to 15%, down from more than 25% currently.
The Trump administration is embroiled in a legal dispute with Harvard University after the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) revoked the school’s ability to enroll international students on Thursday. In response, Harvard filed a lawsuit, prompting a federal district judge to issue a temporary restraining order on Friday, temporarily blocking the DHS action.
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