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Updated October 2nd, 2020 at 16:38 IST

Chinese students might face ban in UK over national security concerns: Report

UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement that it will exempt a large number of Chinese students from pursuing defense-related course.

Reported by: Zaini Majeed
Chinese
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On October 1, the UK government announced that it would impose a ban on the Chinese students amid soaring fears related to national security concerns. UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement that it will exempt a large number of Chinese students from pursuing defense, cyber-security, and aerospace research courses under Britain’s Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS). 

Sources for the Times publication confirmed that the Boris Johnson administration will tighten rules on the Chinese students over the suspected theft of intellectual property by Chinese students. According to the UK government’s website, while the overseas postgraduate applicants already undergo strict security vetting to opt for the weapons-related programs, the list will be revamped to extend restrictions onto the cyber-security and aircraft-related programs as well. UK’s acclaimed Sheffield University’s engineering department accused over 16 students from Chinese institutions of links to the People’s Liberation Army, according to the report. 

"The measures are expected to block hundreds of Chinese students from entering Britain. Visas for those already enrolled will be revoked if they are deemed to pose a risk," ANI quoted Lucy Fisher in Times’ report as saying. 

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Read: Pompeo, Vatican Clash Over China After Tensions Spill Out

Expansion of the ATAS

The Foreign Office said in a statement that the UK government has implemented the expansion of the ATAS to Advanced Conventional Military Technology (ACMT), weapons of mass destruction (WMDs), and other military and weaponry related programs to safeguard Britain’s national interest in “ever-changing global threats”. The measures would restrict hundreds of Chinese students from entering the UK as their enrolment would be revoked by the British government on suspicion of threat. However, the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) exempted the students from the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland to apply for these courses. 

“UK immigration law does not allow universities to permit international students to study for an ATAS applicable course,” the UK government warned in a press release.

It said that an ATAS certificate would be needed post-UK government’s ATAS clearance. Earlier, the US senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas argued that the Chinese students should be banned from studying science in the US as he accused them of stealing intellectual property and taking it “back to Beijing”. 

(With inputs from ANI)

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Published October 2nd, 2020 at 16:38 IST

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