HONG KONG — Chinese students studying in the U.S. are scrambling to figure out their futures after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced Wednesday that some students would have their visas revoked.

The U.S. will begin revoking the visas of some Chinese students, including those studying in “critical fields”, and “those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party,” according to the announcement.

China is the second-largest country of origin for international students in the United States, behind only India. In the 2023-2024 school year, more than 270,000 international students were from China, making up roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the U.S.

This is a “new version of Chinese Exclusion Act,” said Linqin, a Chinese student at Johns Hopkins University, who asked to be identified only by his first name out of fear of retaliation. He said Wednesday was the first time he thought about leaving the U.S. after spending one third of his life here.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning on Thursday called the U.S. decision unreasonable and said “Such a politicized and discriminatory action lays bare the U.S. lie that it upholds the so-called freedom and openness.” She added that China has lodged a protest with the U.S.

The issue of Chinese students studying overseas has long been a point of tension in the bilateral relationship. During Trump’s first term, in 2019, China’s Ministry of Education warned students about visa issues in the U.S., with rising rejection rates and shortening of visas.

Last year, the Chinese Foreign Ministry protested that a number of Chinese students have been unfairly interrogated and sent home upon arrival at U.S. airports.

Chinese state media has long hyped gun violence in the U.S. and violent protests during the pandemic, and portrayed the U.S. as a dangerous place that wasn’t safe for its citizens. The tense bilateral relationship has also meant that some Chinese students are opting to study in the U.K. or other countries over the U.S. after the pandemic.

Zou Renge, a 27-year-old public policy master’s student at the University of Chicago, said she had planned to take some time off and work in humanitarian aid programs abroad after graduating at the end of this year.

But now, she will refrain from leaving the U.S. and will look for jobs in the meantime. “In a very uncertain environment, I’ll try my best to find myself a solution,” she said.

Some were eager to capitalize on the uncertainty facing international students in the U.S. Hong Kong’s leader John Lee told lawmakers on Thursday that the city would welcome any students who have been discriminated against by American policies to study in the city.

“The students who face unfair treatment can come from different countries beyond the U.S. I think this is an opportunity for Hong Kong,” he said. “We will work with our universities to provide the best support and assistance.”

That followed a widely shared post by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology offering to smooth the process for any Harvard University students to transfer after Trump had said he would revoke the university’s ability to accept international students.

Hong Kong, a former British colony that returned to China in 1997, is a popular destination for mainland Chinese students to pursue their university degrees because of its international image and relative freedoms.

The city in 2022 already had launched a new visa scheme to counter the exodus of expatriates and local professionals that occurred after Beijing imposed a national security law to quell dissent and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kitty Wu, director of education consultancy Litz USA Student Service in Hong Kong, said that some students who planned to apply to American universities in the future are now also considering the University of Hong Kong, the city’s top university and an option because of its high ranking — something that had not happened before.

“Things are different every day now, we don’t know how things will change in the future, so we don’t know the impact for next year,” she said.

Will Kwong, managing director at AAS Education Consultancy in Hong Kong, said his company was already helping students with offers from American universities to apply to other institutions, predominantly in Britain and Australia, to give them an alternative. He said they made the move after the media reported the State Department had halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for foreign students hoping to study in the U.S.

“Having fewer international exchanges is definitely not good for America’s development,” said Zhang Qi, a post-doctoral fellow in Beijing. “This could be a positive change for China’s development. More talented individuals may choose to stay at Tsinghua or Peking University, or with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and other top institutions in China, which would benefit the development of domestic science and technology.”

For many, there is little they can do as they now wait for the fallout from the move.

Chen, an incoming Chinese student at Purdue University who only gave his last name out of concern for retaliation by the Trump administration, has been waiting anxiously for his visa approval. But he was also angry. Currently in China, he said this was the exact opposite of what he thought the U.S. stood for.

“I was expecting freedom and tolerance, the U.S. was known for its diversity which allows international students to fit in, but it is a pity to see such kind of change,” he said.

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Fu Ting reported from Washington, Wu from Bangkok. Associated Press researcher Shihuan Chen and video producer Olivia Zhang contributed to this report from Beijing.