The United States of America (USA) has revoked entry visas for more than a thousand Chinese students and researchers.
The American authorities claimed that those researchers have links with the Chinese military, accusing some of them of espionage, in the recent conflict between the two rival superpowers, according to the British Guardian newspaper.
Chad Wolf, US Acting Minister of Homeland Security, said that China was misusing student visas to exploit the American academic community.
Wolf added that the responsible authorities had banned entry visas for some Chinese graduate students and researchers associated with the Chinese military integration strategy to prevent them from stealing and seizing sensitive research.
This comes on the heels of an announcement in late May by President Donald J. Trump that restrictions will be placed on Chinese citizens associated with entities in China that support or work with the Chinese military from entering the United States.
He said that Chinese citizens studying in the United States have stolen intellectual property and helped the People's Liberation Army (the Red Army).
Last month, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo indicated the moves on student visas, telling a local radio program: Not every Chinese student here works on behalf of or on the direction of the Chinese Communist Party, but it is something President Trump took a serious and serious look at."
In the same context, a spokeswoman for the US State Department said that the USA continues to welcome students and scholars from China who do not support the Chinese Communist Party's goals of military hegemony.
On the other hand, some Chinese students enrolled in US universities said that they had received e-mail notifications on Wednesday from the US embassy in Beijing or US consulates in China to inform them of canceling their visas.
For its part, China announced in June that it firmly opposes any US move to restrict Chinese students from studying in the United States, and urged Washington to do more to enhance understanding.
China responded to US President Donald Trump's threat again to cut ties with it, by asserting that any steps by Washington in this way would not be in the interests of the United States.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said during a press briefing that the unilateral disengagement between the two countries and changing economic laws in the United States is neither a realistic nor a wise choice.
The spokesman warned that such a move by the Trump administration will not solve the problems existing in the United States, but rather harm the Americans.
This came in response to Trump's announcement yesterday that the option of "fully disengaging" with Beijing is still on the table in his administration, against the backdrop of allegations made in the new book of the former National Security Adviser at the White House, John Bolton, that Trump asked China to help him win.
The already strained relations between Washington and Beijing have witnessed a significant escalation in the past months, as the Trump administration directed sharp criticism of the Chinese authorities, blaming them for the loss of control of the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19).
Trump accuses China of covering up the pandemic in its early stages, which led, according to Washington, to the spread of the virus in the world is widespread.
Washington also repeatedly criticized the Chinese governments policies in various fields, mainly human rights, against the backdrop of the Beijing governments plans to adopt national security legislation for the HKSAR.
Trump on Thursday renewed his threats to cut ties with Beijing, stressing that his country would maintain "the option of a full disengagement policy with China."
Trump's comments came in a tweet on Twitter, one day after the allegations of former White House national security adviser John Bolton were revealed, that Trump asked China to use its economic clout to help him win a second term in office.
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