Trump-era policy against Chinese students hurts US more than China: experts

WASHINGTON - The Trump-era policy that shut out top Chinese students could be hurting the United States more than China, impacting not only students but also the quality of US research, said experts in an article carried by CNN on Friday.

"What you're doing is you're keeping out thousands of very high-value students in very valuable fields that contribute a lot to American research," said Eric Fish, author of "China's Millennials: The Want Generation" who studied and taught in China for several years, to CNN.

The ban introduced by former US President Donald Trump has prevented graduate science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students from several Chinese universities from gaining visas to the United States, according to the article.

Experts also said to CNN that the ban could "impact the ability of US institutions to recruit Chinese students," and exacerbate China-US relations.

Combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, the ban has led to "a complete derailing of (students') studies, their careers and their lives," said a Chinese student interviewed by CNN, who has waited for a year and a half to return to Northeastern University in Boston.