The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was asked about when, during a regular press conference in late December, international students would be allowed to return to China after months of students waiting to update their situation.
“Speaker Wang Wenbin said he was “not aware of the specifics” surrounding the problems faced by international students when asked about the status of students considering “many categories of foreign nationals have been allowed to enter China on various grounds following Covid protocols.
But he said that “the Chinese government attaches great importance to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese students abroad.”
He continued, “It requires colleges and universities to keep in close contact with overseas students, organize online courses carefully for them, and address their legitimate concerns and needs properly.”
“While taking effective measures to prevent and control epidemics, China will evaluate the situation regarding the resumption of studies for foreign students in China and will continue to discuss this with all parties.”
However, the Foreign Ministry’s statement will probably not be enough to satisfy international students who have previously reported struggles in contacting their universities, low online education quality, and said that if done remotely, their qualifications in fields such as medicine will not be accepted back home.
Those not in the nation also said they had suspended their scholarship stipends.
“We certainly understand the difficulties that some students are having,” said Richard Coward, founder of China Admissions. He added that the company was collecting student feedback and sharing it with universities and working to help develop new online programs to help students.
[The border openings are] based on worldwide coronavirus cases and government policy. We can look at what has happened so far, and a similar pattern can be expected.“He continued, “The border was opened in phases with some closer and lower risk countries first.
The first to be able to return were those with a work visa. Since July, students from Korea have been able to go back and get student visas.
However, since there has been a resurgence of Covid cases worldwide, some workers in certain countries are no longer in a position to return. We expect that if cases remain, those with a work visa and students from closer, low-risk countries will be next.
