China considers return of foreign students amid Covid concerns, no word on Indians
The Chinese foreign ministry has declined to commit to the issue of allowing stranded Indian students back in China, days after offering to arrange for Pakistani students to return to resume on-campus learning.
The Chinese foreign ministry has declined to commit to the issue of allowing stranded Indian students back in China, days after offering to arrange for Pakistani students to return to resume on-campus learning.
The foreign ministry said on Tuesday it was considering the return of thousands of international students stranded abroad to China in a “coordinated manner” but declined to elaborate when it was planning to do so.
“We are considering in a coordinated manner arrangement for allowing foreign students to return to China for their studies,” ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, said without specifically mentioning students from India or any other country.
Despite bringing the Covid-19 pandemic mostly under control in the country, Beijing has not allowed the vast majority of students studying here to return to campus citing safety concerns.
A joint statement released by China and Pakistan, all-weather strategic allies, on Sunday said China will arrange for Pakistani students to return but did not give a timeline.
“Pakistan side highlighted that China has become a popular education destination. While ensuring safety against Covid-19, China will arrange for Pakistani students to return to China and resume classes in a prudent manner,” the China-Pakistan joint statement said.
It was issued after Prime Minister Imran Khan met Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing after attending the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
China is said to be making similar arrangements for the return of students from Singapore, Mongolia and Sri Lanka.
When asked whether Beijing had similar plans for Indian students to return, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian said, “I can tell you that the Chinese government attaches great importance to the issue of foreign students returning to China for their studies. We are considering in a coordinated manner arrangement for allowing foreign students to return to China for their studies.”
“We stand ready to work actively toward the healthy, safe, and orderly cross-border flow of people on the basis of sound anti-epidemic protocols,” Zhao said.
International students from around the world, including India, have repeatedly petitioned the Chinese government to lift the nearly two-year ban on their return but their pleas have so far been futile.
The Indian embassy in Beijing has repeatedly brought up the problem of Indian students with Chinese foreign and education ministries but has so far been rebuffed by the Chinese government.
It’s not clear to what extent the current state of Sino-India ties - the worst in decades because of the ongoing military tension in eastern Ladakh - should be a cause for concern for the students.
Crucially, a large number of Indian medical students have lost out on physically completing the final year of their medical course when they are mandatorily attached to hospitals for practical training.
More than 23,000 Indian students study in China, the majority enrolled in medical universities.
All but a handful had returned to India in a staggered manner in 2020 following the Covid-19 outbreak in China but are now stranded in their home country because Beijing has banned foreign students from returning to universities.
According to China’s education ministry, until the end of 2018, at least 492,185 international students from 196 countries and regions were studying in China.
With 23,198 students, India was fourth on the list of a country-wise breakup of students studying in China.
South Korea with more than 50,000 students topped it followed by Thailand and Pakistan with over 28,000 students each studying in China.
