Bloomberg: Regarding the U.S.’s decision to begin aggressively revoking the visas of Chinese students, including those with links to the Communist Party of China or those that are studying in so-called “critical fields.” In relation to this, I just like to ask given that it is probably the most prominent story of the moment in terms of U.S.-China relations, I’d like to ask what is the Foreign Ministry’s comment on this? Can we expect a retaliation of sorts from Beijing? How might this affect the overall climate, especially as we are looking towards further trade talks? 

Mao Ning: The U.S. decision to revoke Chinese student visas is fully unjustified. It uses ideology and national security as pretext. It seriously hurts the lawful rights and interests of international students from China, and disrupts people-to-people exchanges between the two countries. China firmly opposes it and has protested to the U.S. over the decision.

This politically motivated and discriminatory move exposes the U.S. hypocrisy over freedom and openness. It will further damage the image and reputation of the U.S. itself.