China requests that the US stop “harassing” Chinese students

BEIJING: During a meeting between the two in Vienna on Monday, Beijing’s official media said that China’s public security minister requested the US homeland security secretary to end any “harassment” of Chinese students entering the US.
According to official news agency Xinhua, Beijing asked Washington “to stop harassing and checking Chinese students for no apparent reason” in a summary of discussions between Wang Xiaohong and Alejandro Mayorkas on Sunday.

Beijing has long maintained that citizens of China with legitimate travel credentials have been the targets of violent interrogations and deportations at US airports; this month, its embassy in Washington advised Chinese visitors to stay away from the Dulles airport in the nation’s capital.
Wang said to Mayorkas at their meeting that the US should “ensure that Chinese citizens enjoy fair entry treatment and full dignity,” according to Xinhua.
Additionally, Wang put pressure on Mayorkas to “rectify” the US decision to classify China among the main nations that produce or transport drugs.

For an extended period, US authorities have maintained that China is involved in the trafficking of fentanyl, a drug that is much more potent than heroin and causes over 70,000 overdose fatalities annually in the US.

Officials from the US and China decided to work together last month in Beijing to reduce the manufacturing of precursor chemicals, which are the raw materials used to produce fentanyl.
“Candid and constructive discussion on the steps needed to combat the spread of precursor chemicals” was the description given by the US of Wang and Mayorkas’ discussions on Sunday.
“The two sides also made commitments with respect to continued law enforcement cooperation, technical bilateral exchanges between scientists and other experts, scheduling of precursor chemicals, and furthering multilateral cooperation,” stated the statement.

Further collaboration “in the fight to protect children from online child sexual exploitation and abuse” was another topic of discussion between Beijing and Washington, according to the readout.