Same. To think you've invested everything into getting a degree in the U.S. and get not only turned back at the last step but given the impression that you are not a good actor.
Thanks for sharing. Found it interesting and useful. Hope no one was put off by the questioning. It is unpleasant but that is all it is; just questions and probably fishing for persons who might work for as well as against the US. I wouldn't like it either but it is a unique and safe experience that one might very well look back upon favorably as one gets older.
True, being questioned by customs is an inherent part of international travel, as long as the questions are reasonable and conducted in a professional manner.
Interesting how we bend backwards to give the US (and their allies) the benefit of doubt, but readily attribute malice to China with so little evidence (e.g. "genocide" in Xinjiang, but none in Gaza!). Attribution bias at work!
Honestly, I think most US citizens are willing to forgive what is likely genocide under the current legal definition in Xinjiang but it is just the constant lying and obfuscating that bothers many. Trust would be easier if CCP just said, "yea; we're doing it, we don't like doing it but feel it is necessary."
As for Gaza, lots of American's are ticked off. I may not be one of them but plenty of what I view as uninformed people, are. They don't get in trouble for expressing their views in public either.
Again, so willing to believe stereotypes with so little evidence, when there is so much more evidence of lying by the US government. And oh, there is plenty of criticisms in the Chinese social media, and they don’t get into trouble either. It’s just that the criticisms are censored if they are found to be creating unrest, false or malicious. More objectivity please!
OMG! How horrible. Are we really this stupid? Who in their right mind is going to try to use college students on a tour to spy on another country? I've lived in Belgium and Iran and I've spent time in Ecuador and Costa Rica and I've never had anything like that happen to me. The physics student is probably the epitome of what is wrong here. I am a physicist and when you're in school, you're learning the fundamental workings of the universe, you're not learning military applications of physics principles. But apparently, the custom's officers aren't bright enough to realize that which is why we need bright immigrants to come to the US but the US seems hell bent on driving any that come here away. Enlightening.
"The students described the U.S. position as “arrogant”, and Cathy of the School of Business Management said the discussion gave her the feeling that Washington considered Taiwan an independent political entity."
Newsflash, Cathy and fellow Tsinghua elites: Taiwan *is* an independent political entity. That these bright young things consider the reality of this position to be "arrogant" speaks volumes for the environment in which they were raised/educated; and indeed of the performative demands placed on even the most open-minded of PRC students in these hyper-nationalistic times. There is a sense of predetermination about the negative slant presented here, and no doubt the ever-present pressure to conform with—or not be seen as opposing—the prevailing tide of anti-Americanism played its part.
That said, yes, it can be a tough—and oftentimes unreasonable—gig being a PRC student abroad, but let's have some respect for: 1. the unverified claims made about the nature of immigration officials' questioning (though I've no doubt it wasn't coffee & cookies); 2. the staggering level of Beijing-sponsored espionage and IP theft that the US *actually* suffers annually; 3. the skepticism required in reading an account that echoes so much of Beijing's anti-US rhetoric, namely: they're arrogant; they're prejudiced/racist/anti-China; their society is in decay; they're troublemaking over Taiwan.
And yet the US is still where these students want to be.
Taiwan is part of China, the part the ROC retreated to in 1949 and then were protected by the US in the 1950s. It will once again be part of China, when the Chinese are strong enough that the US will not defend their little comprador nation, or the Taiwanese wake up to the fact that the US want to suicide them by China for geopolitical reasons, deal with it!
How horrible! I feel so badly for these students and the racism they had to face.
Same. To think you've invested everything into getting a degree in the U.S. and get not only turned back at the last step but given the impression that you are not a good actor.
What would you call sinophobia? It's not new at all so is it centuries old western bigotry?
Thanks for sharing. Found it interesting and useful. Hope no one was put off by the questioning. It is unpleasant but that is all it is; just questions and probably fishing for persons who might work for as well as against the US. I wouldn't like it either but it is a unique and safe experience that one might very well look back upon favorably as one gets older.
True, being questioned by customs is an inherent part of international travel, as long as the questions are reasonable and conducted in a professional manner.
no, this excuse won't wash; those questions were shockingly ignorant and deeply offensive -- disgusting bigotry against the Chinese.
Interesting how we bend backwards to give the US (and their allies) the benefit of doubt, but readily attribute malice to China with so little evidence (e.g. "genocide" in Xinjiang, but none in Gaza!). Attribution bias at work!
https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/countries/2022-08-31/22-08-31-final-assesment.pdf
Honestly, I think most US citizens are willing to forgive what is likely genocide under the current legal definition in Xinjiang but it is just the constant lying and obfuscating that bothers many. Trust would be easier if CCP just said, "yea; we're doing it, we don't like doing it but feel it is necessary."
As for Gaza, lots of American's are ticked off. I may not be one of them but plenty of what I view as uninformed people, are. They don't get in trouble for expressing their views in public either.
Just think about how Julian Assange has been treated. The collective West punished him for telling the truth! Ore objectivity please!
Again, so willing to believe stereotypes with so little evidence, when there is so much more evidence of lying by the US government. And oh, there is plenty of criticisms in the Chinese social media, and they don’t get into trouble either. It’s just that the criticisms are censored if they are found to be creating unrest, false or malicious. More objectivity please!
So not just Washington Dulles airport...
Yeah, perhaps the issue is more acute in Dulles
OMG! How horrible. Are we really this stupid? Who in their right mind is going to try to use college students on a tour to spy on another country? I've lived in Belgium and Iran and I've spent time in Ecuador and Costa Rica and I've never had anything like that happen to me. The physics student is probably the epitome of what is wrong here. I am a physicist and when you're in school, you're learning the fundamental workings of the universe, you're not learning military applications of physics principles. But apparently, the custom's officers aren't bright enough to realize that which is why we need bright immigrants to come to the US but the US seems hell bent on driving any that come here away. Enlightening.
"The students described the U.S. position as “arrogant”, and Cathy of the School of Business Management said the discussion gave her the feeling that Washington considered Taiwan an independent political entity."
Newsflash, Cathy and fellow Tsinghua elites: Taiwan *is* an independent political entity. That these bright young things consider the reality of this position to be "arrogant" speaks volumes for the environment in which they were raised/educated; and indeed of the performative demands placed on even the most open-minded of PRC students in these hyper-nationalistic times. There is a sense of predetermination about the negative slant presented here, and no doubt the ever-present pressure to conform with—or not be seen as opposing—the prevailing tide of anti-Americanism played its part.
That said, yes, it can be a tough—and oftentimes unreasonable—gig being a PRC student abroad, but let's have some respect for: 1. the unverified claims made about the nature of immigration officials' questioning (though I've no doubt it wasn't coffee & cookies); 2. the staggering level of Beijing-sponsored espionage and IP theft that the US *actually* suffers annually; 3. the skepticism required in reading an account that echoes so much of Beijing's anti-US rhetoric, namely: they're arrogant; they're prejudiced/racist/anti-China; their society is in decay; they're troublemaking over Taiwan.
And yet the US is still where these students want to be.
Taiwan is part of China, the part the ROC retreated to in 1949 and then were protected by the US in the 1950s. It will once again be part of China, when the Chinese are strong enough that the US will not defend their little comprador nation, or the Taiwanese wake up to the fact that the US want to suicide them by China for geopolitical reasons, deal with it!
Why? You are coming into a country.
I've had my car searched coming into Canada. Should I hate the Canadians?