International students despair of China's 'zero Covid' strategy

International students despair of China's 'zero Covid' strategy

Stuck outside, unable to return to China to complete their studies, international students are using the hashtag #takeusbacktoChina to vent their anger.

Amma, an East African, is working as a PhD student in biotechnology at a university in Guangdong province. She plans to go on a three-week holiday at the end of 2019. Amma put her samples in the lab freezer, left the windows open to let in fresh air, and decided to clean up her cluttered room when she returned.

Amma did not anticipate that the day she stepped out of school was the day Covid-19 broke out. More than a year and a half later, the global pandemic left her and tens of thousands of international students stranded indefinitely outside China amid the country's zero-tolerance policy for prevention and control. virus.

When the news about Covid-19 began to explode during the peak of the Lunar New Year in mid-January 2020, many international students returned home. Students who have not returned are also persuaded by the university to return or are forced to make a quick decision. Take for example the case of Sunil, a North Indian, who is in his fourth year of medical school in Shaanxi province. The student was the last to board one of the last flights out of the country because the school announced spring break would be extended by two or three weeks.

After hearing the rumours, Amma contacted her university from abroad and was told the campus was closed so no one could enter. "Although flights are available, I find it really hard to come back, like there's a message 'If you come, we won't let you in. The gates are closed,'" she said. .

China's 'zero Covid' strategy has been very effective in curbing the development of the epidemic, but some experts are starting to question the long-term resilience of the economy and other aspects. Strict regulations have closed several ports in southern China this year, disrupting supply chains, not to mention the losses the country has suffered in relation to diplomatic and cultural exchanges. internationalization.

A student walks past the sea at Fudan University of Journalism. Photo: Radii

A student walks past the sea at Fudan University of Journalism. Photo: Radii

Over the past decade, China has attracted many foreign students, with ambitions to become a world leader in education, as the industry is seen as the key to building "soft power" and image. enjoy abroad. Obert Hodzi, a lecturer in politics at the University of Liverpool (UK), said that at a time when African and Asian students find it difficult to obtain visas and pay tuition fees for programs in the West, China. has "promoted an initiative to provide appropriate knowledge resources to developed countries" and "they can tailor courses to the needs of some countries to attract students".

China currently ranks third in the world in the number of international students, after the US and UK. In 2010, the Ministry of Education launched the China Study Abroad initiative with the goal of having 500,000 international students by 2020. 2013, this plan was included in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) - a development project infrastructure development by Chinese President Xi Jinping, currently involving 138 countries across Asia, Africa and Europe.

In conjunction with this policy, the Silk Road Scholarship program provides 10,000 scholarships per year to students from BRI participating countries. In 2018, more than 492,000 students from more than 196 countries studied in China, 65% of which were from BRI countries.

During the spring of 2020, all universities in China switched to online teaching, and international students staying in the country were only allowed to live in dormitories. Those who had left were originally scheduled to return in the fall. When that doesn't happen, hope rests in the spring of 2021; then in the fall of 2021. Now it seems they have to wait until after the winter Olympics next February in Beijing.

The Chinese government announced on July 9: "The Chinese government always attaches great importance to international students. On the basis of ensuring safety during the time of Covid-19 raging, we will synchronously consider about international students. arrangements to allow them to return to China to study".

Hodzi said some universities have already made arrangements with students to maintain online teaching and learning. However, this creates many challenges for international students. In many countries, the Internet is unstable or expensive. Not to mention, many international students come to China to study science and engineering, which require direct practice.

Sunil is skeptical about becoming a doctor when homeschooling may not equip him with enough knowledge. Since you study in many countries with different time zones, it is impossible to have a common online class. Instead, the professor posts videos of the experiments. However, neither did he and his Indian classmates