International students across China are frustrated about remaining under strict lockdown conditions despite coronavirus-related restrictions having been lifted for most of society.Life in China is returning to normal as the number of Covid-19 cases subsides. On May 17, authorities in Beijing announced that wearing masks while moving about the city was no longer compulsory and at the start of June 400,000 K12 students returned to school.
Yet international students in Beijing have claimed they have not been allowed to leave campuses unless accompanied by a Chinese staff member since the end of January, and aren’t being given any updates about when the situation will change.
Students question why they continue to be in place and why staff and others living on campus are not subject to the same rules.
“The only store we have here [on campus] doesn’t even have rice or meat. We can go to [a] bank only if we go with a Chinese person. I don’t understand the logic in that,” said one student.
“But the biggest problem is that we receive our money through Western Union and they don’t let us go there because it is far from the university.
“In my case, sometimes I don’t even have money to eat, and many people are in the same situation.”
In recent weeks, students say others have been allowed to visit the campus from outside, using the spaces for exercise and dancing.
We at Student Exchange believe that international students should always have the same rights as the homeland students of that particular country. We believe that Chinese practices discourages international students and we call upon China to help relax restrictions and to help international students get their rights for successful global education.