Recently, the U.S. State Department implemented a stricter visa vetting process. After the news reached mainland China, many officials, especially those perpetrators involved in the persecution of Falun Gong in China, were shocked. According to Minghui, an overseas Chinese website that is dedicated to reporting first-hand reports from China on the persecution on a daily basis, it issued a notice calling for Falun Gong practitioners to collect information on perpetrators, their family members, and their assets. Since the notice was published, there have been a number of reported cases where the police in China were more restrained in their behavior when treating detained Falun Gong practitioners.

In Helongjiang province, in one of the cities, after Falun Gong practitioners distributed flyers with information on the latest visa vetting policy, four female Falun Gong practitioners were released from the detention center within just 15 days. The guard also asked the practitioners: “I didn’t hit you? Right? Don’t report on me. I still want to send my children overseas.” In Shandong Shouguang City, two practitioners were arrested when they were clarifying the truth on the streets. The material they were passing out included flyers about the new visa vetting process. Practitioners specifically told the police to read the flyer. A few police officers appear to have been aware of what was going on. Both practitioners were released the next day. On two other separate occasions, police changed their attitude immediately after they learned about the visa policy and the practitioners were quickly released to go back home.

Source:
Minghui, August 6 & July 26, 2019
https://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2019/8/6/美国拒发签证新规使中共迫害者恐慌-391133.html
http://www.minghui.org/mh/articles/2019/7/26/%E8%AE%A9%E9%80%9A%E5%91%8A%E5%8F%91%E6%8C%A5%E5%87%BA%E5%BA%94%E6%9C%89%E7%9A%84%E4%BD%9C%E7%94%A8-390553.html

The civil movement that the Hong Kong government’s attempt to amend the extradition bill triggered has lasted for two months. According to a survey of 1007 Hong Kong residents that the Hong Kong Public Opinion Research Institute Limited (HKPORI) conducted, 90 percent of young people believe that their dissatisfaction comes from a distrust of the central government.

Among the 1,007 Hong Kong residents above the age of 14 that HKPORI interviewed in July, 81 percent showed no trust in the central government. The proportion of those who did not trust in “one country, two systems” or the Hong Kong chief executive was 75 percent. In particular, among the 14 through 29 age group, those distrusting the Chinese government was as high as 91 percent. The proportion against “one country, two systems” or the chief executive was 86 percent and 84 percent respectively. They believe that chief executive Carrie Lam, the Hong Kong police, and the central government are the main factors contributing to the current crisis.

Guo Wenhao, a young community activist, told RFA that young people in Hong Kong no longer think that the SAR government can speak for them, but that it has instead become a yes-man for Beijing:

“With so many protests in Hong Kong in the past, the SAR government has never spoken out for the Hong Kong people. The controversies about the amendment to the extradition bill have been going on for so long. However, the government’s response is to condemn the demonstrators. How could young people trust the government? Nowadays many young people feel that they are farther and farther away from the central government. At the same time the central government has intervened and exerted influence nonstop. The Beijing government has sabotaged the freedom of speech and judicial independence that we previously enjoyed in Hong Kong. Everyone is worried about whether we will become like the dissidents in China; they are worried about whether we will be arrested for ‘inciting the subversion of state power’ whenever we express our opposition to the Chinese government.”

Yao-Yuan Yeh, a professor at the Center for International Studies at the University of St. Thomas, said that a large number of young people in Hong Kong protested the revision of the extradition bill because their sense of deprivation has reached a peak point.

“People born before 1997 can personally feel the difference between the British and the Chinese governance of Hong Kong. Under which regime do people enjoy freedom and dignity? Those born after 1997 have access to free and open information, and know the situation in other countries. China has always wanted to transform or destroy the original political institutions in Hong Kong. With such a contrast, people have developed a sense of deprivation, and as a result they feel angry.”

Source: Radio Free Asia, August 6, 2019
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/gangtai/hj-08062019120432.html

Chen Chun, a scholar from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, recently circulated pictures of himself on social media participating in a parade in Hong Kong. Chinese netizens reported Chen and protested. Chen introduced himself as a Ph.D. in ethics and a columnist, born in 1985.

The incident began on July 14, when some Chinese netizens found that Chen’s WeChat account showed photos of him wearing masks at Tai Wai MTR station, as part of the “black silence” parade that seven labor unions of the Hong Kong press industry had initiated.

After the incident went viral in cyberspace, some netizens posted comments on Chen’s Weibo account, a twitter like Chinese microblogging account, criticizing him and calling him a member of the “Hong Kong independence” movement. Although Chen has closed the comment function on his Weibo account, some mainland Chinese continued to slam him. One post said, “(We) may not be able to handle foreigners, but are you daring us to teach you a lesson?”

Chen Chun has not offered any response.

Source: Central News Agency, August 6, 2019
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/201908060187.aspx

People in China have been unhappy because the Chinese government has been awarding a substantial number of scholarships to international students from African countries. In July, articles were posted on Weibo alleging that, in 2018, Shandong University developed a study buddy program that connected three local students with each foreign student and they were often of the opposite sex. The matching ratio had been one to one in 2017, but was increased. The posting has drawn wide criticism because of the preferential treatment that foreign exchange students receive in China. On July 7, Shandong University issued a statement stating that its study buddy program is legal and justified. It is in line with the intent of the Ministry of Education to encourage exchanges between Chinese and foreign students.

Based on the study buddy listing posted on Weibo, 47 international students came from Pakistan, Nepal, Yemen, Malaysia, Russia, Afghanistan, Kenya, and other countries. One was from Germany and eight were from South Korea. The list showed that boys were matched with girls, while girls were matched with boys.

During the opening ceremony of the Beijing Summit of the China-Africa Cooperation Forum in 2018, Xi Jinping said that it will provide 50,000 Chinese government scholarships to students from African countries. In addition, China will invite 2,000 African youths to come to China for the exchange program. Due to the continuous increase in the number of scholarships, the number of foreign exchange students has increased by more than 10 percent for two consecutive years. In a video circulating on mainland media in 2018, a female student from the East Timor said that she can not only support herself while studying in China, but also can send extra money back to her family.

A recent discussion on Weibo of the “Study Buddy” program at Shandong University focused on connecting three female students with one foreign male student and resulted in experts in China paying attention to this as a deficiency in the international student program in Chinese universities.

On July 26th, Financial Times published an article titled “How to Make China a More Attractive Destination for Foreign Students.” The article quoted the data from the International Education Association, which stated that foreign exchange students only account for 0.6 percent of college students in China, far lower than the 5.3 percent in the U.S. The article pointed out that the reason for the low enrollment of foreign students is the restrictions on enrollment conditions and the fee structure. Moreover, there is lack of curriculum and teaching resources for international students.

The article said that the Study Buddy system has existed in the US and UK for a while. It assists the foreign students in adapting to university life. It suggested that universities in China study how the program is managed in the U.S. and the UK. It should encourage communication between local and foreign students while preventing the study buddy situation at Shandong University from happening in the future.

Sources: Radio Free Asia, July 12 & August 2, 2019

1. https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/kejiaowen/ql2-07112019111715.html
2. https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/yataibaodao/kejiaowen/bm1-08022019140708.html