President Donald Trump’s administration says it will “aggressively” revoke the visas of Chinese students studying in the US, the BBC reports.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement the move would include “those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields”.
Criteria will also be revised to “enhance scrutiny” of future visa applicants from China and Hong Kong, Rubio added.
Relations between Beijing and Washington have plummeted in recent months as a tit-for-tat trade war erupted between the two superpowers sparked by Trump’s tariffs.
Last week, a judge temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to strip Harvard of its ability to enrol international students.
The ruling came after America’s oldest university filed a lawsuit against the administration. The White House accused the judge hearing the case of having a “liberal agenda”.
On Wednesday, Harvard said in a court filing that revoking its certification to host international students could inflict irreparable harm on the university.
In a declaration filed with the court motion, Harvard international office director Maureen Martin said the move was causing “significant emotional distress” for students and scholars.
She wrote that students were skipping graduation ceremonies, cancelling international travel and in some cases seeking transfer to other colleges.
Some had also reported fears of being forced to return to countries where they face active conflict or political persecution, according to the court filing.
