The trade war between US and China is beginning to impact the lives and choices of common people in the countries. According to a China-based Global Times, parents in the country are refraining from sending their children for overseas study tours to the US, which was once a preferred choice.
The report also cited tighter US visa norms as one of the reasons for Chinese parents to look at other options like Europe, Australia, Japan and South Korea for overseas education tours of their children.
The main reason that deters the parents to send their children to America is security concern. Amid the US-China trade war, there have been warnings from different ministries with regard to Chinese students being sent to the US.
According to the Global Times, the US will incur huge economic loss if the trend continues. The report also says that the US will suffer cultural loss as there would be no option for it to teach Chinese students about America’s history and culture.
There are several parents who also think that America has lost its “attraction and unique advantages” and hence other destinations are better as options for overseas education programmes.
A move by the US State Department to seek details of social media accounts of visa applicants has also not gone down well with the Chinese. This “heightened security scrutiny” is another factor that is acting as a deterrent.
The report also refers to a recent statement by US President Donal Trump administration to further restrict Chinese students who are seeking US visas for higher studies in the country.
Notably, in a report on June 3, Chinese news agency Xinhua had issued a warning on behalf of China’s Ministry of Education for students seeking US visa. It had warned the students of the “risks” involved in pursuing studies in America.
Prasanta Patnaik