The US visa application webpage Photo: IC

Chinese students in the US received a positive signal from US President Donald Trump who said the country will continue to welcome international students from China, but analysts warned against being overly optimistic, saying people-to-people exchanges still face potential challenges as Washington's China hawks won't give up efforts on decoupling with China.  

 "We're going to be very good to Chinese students…We're not going to make it tough. We're going to make it right for everybody else," Trump said on Friday at a press conference in response to a question about many Chinese students having difficulty receiving US visas. 

"Our [education] system is open," Trump said, denying rumors that the US would close the doors on Chinese students. "I can give them my word. I want them coming here," Trump said. 

US Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin said at the same news conference that he and the president would "follow up" on the issue.

A Chinese student in the School of Medicine at University of Pittsburgh, who requested anonymity, remained cautious. 

"Generally speaking the school was open and inclusive toward all foreign students and the assessment standards are the same," the student said. 

But he also noted graduate students in advanced Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) fields, are still facing tough visa restrictions and the offers granted to Chinese students appeared to drop. 

"My school only enrolled two Chinese students this academic year," he said. 

Liu Weidong, a researcher at the Institute of American Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that the US eased its stance on Chinese students' visa as goodwill gesture amid substantial progress in US-China trade negotiation. 

But the  attempts by some US politicians at a decoupling with China will not change and people-to-people exchanges still face potential challenges, Liu warned. 


Newspaper headline: US gesture not to be overly estimated: analyst