BEIJING, China (AFP) — Beijing reacted in fury Thursday at the US government’s vow to revoke Chinese students’ visas, condemning President Donald Trump’s crackdown on international scholars as “political and discriminatory.”

Trump’s administration on Wednesday said it would “aggressively” remove permissions for Chinese students, one of the largest sources of revenue for American universities, in his latest broadside against US higher education.

The US will also revise visa criteria to tighten checks on all future applications from China and Hong Kong, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said.

Blasting the US for “unreasonably” cancelling Chinese students’ visas, foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Beijing had lodged its opposition with Washington.

Rubio had upped the ante after China criticized his decision a day earlier to suspend visa appointments for students worldwide at least temporarily.

The Trump administration has already sought to end permission for all international students at Harvard University, which has rebuffed pressure from the president related to student protests.

Young Chinese people have long been crucial to US universities, which rely on international students paying full tuition.

China sent 277,398 students in the 2023-24 academic year, although India for the first time in years surpassed it, according to a State Department-backed report of the Institute of International Education.

Trump in his previous term also took aim at Chinese students but focused attention on those in sensitive fields or with explicit links with the military.

Meanwhile, Harvard University has been flooded with requests from foreign students to transfer to other institutions, a staff member said Wednesday.

“Too many international students to count have inquired about the possibility of transferring to another institution,” Maureen Martin, director of immigration services, wrote in a court filing.