Why Deteriorating Relations, Xenophobia, and Safety Concerns Will Deter Chinese International Student Mobility to the United States

Abstract

Collaborations between American and Chinese universities have been critical to global knowledge production. Chinese students accounted for over a third of all international students in the United States prior to COVID-19, but the pandemic paused most global mobility in 2020. We argue that this international mobility to the United States will not fully recover if larger stressors are left unaddressed. First, relations between the United States and China have deteriorated in recent years, especially under the Trump administration, with growing suspicion against Chinese researchers and scholars. Second, viral acts of violence and anti-Asian incidents have painted the United States as unsafe for Chinese students. Finally, given the mismanaged response to the pandemic, it may take years before trust returns from abroad. While the Biden administration has promised to curb some of these issues, the perceptions of the United States may have been permanently altered.

International students’ psychosocial well-being and social media use at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: A latent profile analysis

“…Those with fewer social connections are likely to gather information about their new surroundings, from culture to language, through social media (e.g., Mikal & Grace, 2012 ). Although international students may encounter xenophobic or hateful speech on social media ( Allen & Ye, 2021 ), international students heavily rely on social media to elicit social support and cope with these intercultural adversities (e.g., Li & Peng, 2019 ; Saud et al, 2020 ).…”

Interrogating higher education's responses to international student mobility in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

“…For instance, a gang of youngsters in London assaulted a Singaporean student they mistook for a Chinese national [ 44 ]. Anti-Asian attacks and viral acts of violence escalated to the point where several host nations, particularly the United States, were labelled as dangerous places for Chinese students [ 45 ].…”

Getting Around in a College Town: A Case Study of Transportation Barriers Faced by International Students at the University of Alabama

“…In the United States, the number of international students fell by 1.8% between 2019 and 2020, likely as a result of a series of tightened immigration policies implemented by President Trump's administration as well as safety concerns and travel restrictions related to the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic (Allen & Ye, 2021;Institute of International Education, 2021). However, the U.S. remains the leading host destination in the world for international students with 1,075,496 students enrolled in U.S. higher education institutions in 2020 (Institute of International Education, 2020; Liu & Wang, 2008).…”