The recent article by Matt Williams and Jerome Cohen titled To Strengthen Ties with China, Speak the Language First is a very appropriate and honest alert for the US to encourage immigration as a means of keeping itself abreast of a fast-growing China and the world. More often than not, trade and commerce are the main focus in US-China relations, but it is reckless to disregard a meaningful cultural exchange in academia because it has a much longer-term and wider impact on the country as a whole.
One of the reasons why Chinese students are choosing other countries to further their studies is because of the quota shortage of the employment-based visa, such as an H-1B visa. Tuition is no longer a major problem for those who want to come to the US to study. Most Mainlanders who are in business these days are extremely affluent. The problem is that students often want to have an option to stay or practice their trade after graduation. But the employment-based work visa for professionals (this is the type of visa college or grad students apply in order to stay here after their F-1 expires or after graduation) is in terrible situation. According to the State Department, current employment-based preference visa for Professions Holding Advanced Degrees or Persons of Exceptional Ability are only available for those with a priority date of Jan 2000. The quota for this year is used up for Chinese as well as for applicants from India and the Philippines. When the quota re-opens in 2006, the Center for Immigration Services will be processing applications filed in previous years. So, if it is so difficult to apply for a work visa to stay in the US to work for a while, not to mention the possibility of applying for a PR status, it thus diminishes the attractiveness of studying here. Another drop of applicants to US colleges may be attributed to the rise of nationalism in China.
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