China denies plan to clear out all students before Olympics

Apr 18, 2008, 11:01 GMT

Beijing - China's education ministry on Friday denied ordering foreign students to leave before the Olympic Games in August, but one of the country's major universities said it had cancelled summer courses and expected all foreign students whose courses end this term to leave China by July 10.

A ministry spokesperson issued a statement saying that reports of a ban on foreign students during the Olympics were 'false' and that international cooperation and academic exchanges would continue 'normally.'

'The relevant stories are totally false,' the spokesperson said in a statement posted on the ministry's website.

'They (universities) have never asked students to leave China during the Olympics and Paralympics,' the statement said.

'During the Olympics and Paralympics, foreign students can continue to stay in China legally,' it said.

But an administrator at the foreign students' office of People's University in Beijing said summer courses for foreigners were cancelled this year.

'We have no short-term training courses this year,' the administrator said.

She confirmed that the courses were cancelled because of the holding of the Olympics in Beijing and said that students whose courses end this term would not be able to stay in China.

'This term ends on June 28 and the visas for students on courses which end then will expire on July 10,' she said.

'It is impossible for these people to renew their visas if they want to stay in China or travel in China,' she said.

A spokeswoman for Beijing University, which is one of China's most prestigious colleges and enrolls hundreds of foreign students annually on Chinese-language and other courses, on Thursday said most of its foreign students were expected to leave China over the summer.

'Even if you have to continue your studies in September, you need to leave Beijing in July and August,' said the spokeswoman from Beijing University's international department.

She said the two-month gap applies to all universities in Beijing and was ordered by 'higher authorities' because of the Olympics.

Beijing Univesity had also cancelled all short-term summer courses for foreigners this year, she said.

News of the temporary measures for foreign students follows tighter controls on business and tourist visas, and concern by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) that China has started deporting refugees ahead of the Olympics.

Severe restrictions on the issuing of short-term and multi-entry business visas in Hong Kong have already prompted complaints from business groups and diplomats.

China appears to have acted partly in response to recent reports that police uncovered at least two terrorist plots targeting the Olympics, one source said, adding that other nations had taken similar security measures in the past.

China's Foreign Ministry on Thursday defended the restrictions and said visas were issued 'according to law.'

'I believe it will have no influence on normal business activities in China,' ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said of the change in visa policy.