China accuses U.S. immigration of harassing Chinese students

Xie Feng, the Chinese ambassador in Washington, said dozens of Chinese holding valid visas have been denied entry over the past few months when returning to school from overseas travel or visiting relatives in China, according to a post on the Chinese Embassy website.

“When they landed at the airport, what awaited them was an eight-hour-long interrogation by officers who prohibited them from contacting their parents, made groundless accusations against them and even forcibly repatriated them and banned their entry,” he said Sunday at an event at the embassy on student exchanges. “This is absolutely unacceptable.”

The protest comes as the U.S. and China try to boost student and other exchanges to shore up their relations, which have turned confrontational in recent years over trade, technology, human rights and, more fundamentally, the future direction of the world.

Nearly 290,000 Chinese students are in the U.S., about one-third of the foreign students in the country, according to the embassy post. China has more than 1.3 million students studying abroad, more than any other country, it said.

In a separate online statement, the Chinese Embassy said it had made “solemn representations” to the U.S. government about the treatment of students arriving at Dulles airport in Washington, D.C. The statement reminded Chinese students to be cautious when entering through the airport.

It wasn’t clear whether Xie’s comments referenced cases only at Dulles or at other entry points as well.

China’s state media have reported at least three cases since November at Dulles where Chinese students lost their valid student visas, received a five-year entry ban and were repatriated…