When do you think China will open borders for international students?

[Romio]

It has already been almost 2 years since international students cannot enter China. They say that China will keep these strict restrictions further but at the same time they are building quarantine centers for incoming people. What do you think?    

[889]

Anyone who follows this sees clearly there is no priority for opening borders to foreign students or anyone else. It's simply not on the agenda.

 

Think otherwise if you will, but it's just wishful thinking.

 

Stop putting your life on hold and make other plans.

[alantin]

Most likely eventually. Maybe next year or the year after that. Or the year after that.

 

They don’t seem to be in a hurry opening up and I can’t see them doing that as long as they keep to the zero-cases policy.

[Serg]

Never, let's be honest. They don't give a shit about us.

[Flickserve]

This is another version of how long is a piece of string.

[markhavemann]

On 11/9/2021 at 8:31 AM, Serg said:

Never, let's be honest. They don't give a shit about us.

That's a bit extreme.

 

Life here has been going on pretty much as normal for the last year and a half, besides for masks, and the occasional outbreak that's always under control in no time at all. No doubt if you were still in China you would appreciate the strict controls and policies.

 

I can understand that it must be frustrating for those who want to get back, but you can't be angry that a country prioritises the healthy and safety of its tax paying citizens, rather than a handful of foreign students.

 

On 11/9/2021 at 2:37 AM, Romio said:

It has already been almost 2 years since international students cannot enter China. They say that China will keep these strict restrictions further but at the same time they are building quarantine centers for incoming people. What do you think? 

There's a bunch of outbreaks happening right now because of people travelling around and doing irresponsible things (not declaring where they've been to, not quarantining despite being told to).

 

I wouldn't be too hopeful about students coming back soon. I'm pretty sure that spring festival travel is going to be completely shut down again this year, so I can't imagine things getting more relaxed. It is getting stricter though, you now have to go get two separate covid test if your cellphone was even just connected to the same cellphone tower (800m range) as someone who is infected.

[889]

If you're in you're in. If you're out you're out. And you're going to stay out. Completely different perspective.

[alantin]

I expect to be pretty darn fluent by the time they eventually decide to open up. It'll be fun to travel there then.

I have been wondering about how they would actually open up and what would be the first signs of it. I'm expecting them to start changing the zero-cases policy first, since it would seem politically very difficult to start letting potential infected in while trying to maintain that stance. Another interesting thing is how great of a vaccination coverage the population would need with the Chinese vaccines for the opening up to be possible without uncontrollable outbreaks. As it is, it seems kind of futile to me to give people vaccinations against a disease that they won't encounter before the immunity has worn out a long time ago. So why bother if you're not intending to open up sometime within the next couple of years?

[Serg]

On 11/9/2021 at 3:33 AM, markhavemann said:

I can understand that it must be frustrating for those who want to get back, but you can't be angry that a country prioritises the healthy and safety of its tax paying citizens, rather than a handful of foreign students.

 

Nah, I'm just angry at a country that is allowing people with business visas, people with work visas, Olympic athletes, South Korean students and students from a handful universities (private universities dually managed by China and the US) to enter, while it ignores most students, pretends they don't exist, and refuses to give those students an opportunity despite them being vaccinated and willing to go through any required process. It all seems pretty arbitrary, doesn't it?

 

I mean, the fact that they allow students from certain private universities, but not students that have a Chinese government scholarship, already deserves some anger. Like, you supposedly selected these elite people and trained them, for what? To let them rot in their rooms dealing with a 6 hour time difference, and taking classes at from 1:00am to 14:00pm? Pathetic.

[Insectosaurus]

On 11/10/2021 at 1:41 AM, Serg said:

Pathetic.

 

I mean, I kind of understand your frustration, but at the same time, you chose a country that is world famous for its authoritarianism. Arbitrariness, while annoying, is part of the game.

 

On 11/9/2021 at 9:08 PM, alantin said:

So why bother if you're not intending to open up sometime within the next couple of years?

 

Surely no one expects China to shut it's borders for several years ahead? No matter what they are actually communicating right now.

[roddy]

While I don't know anyone's specific circumstances on here, it's important to remember that for some developing world students, a scholarship to China isn't a fun year or two overseas and a career boost - it's their best, possibly only, chance of a university education, and there isn't necessarily a good 'something else' option for them to go and do. There are aspiring doctors and engineers out there in the middle of multi-year courses who feel they've been kept in the dark and treated badly. Whether that was inevitable, I don't know, but I can understand the frustration.

[Insectosaurus]

On 11/10/2021 at 10:34 AM, roddy said:

While I don't know anyone's specific circumstances on here, it's important to remember that for some developing world students, a scholarship to China isn't a fun year or two overseas and a career boost - it's their best, possibly only, chance of a university education, and there isn't necessarily a good 'something else' option for them to go and do.

 

This is a good point. I probably shouldn't jump to conclusions about other user's nationalities. My brain instantly connected @Serg as a nickname for Sergey.

[889]

"Surely no one expects China to shut its borders for several years ahead?"

 

We're two years into this with no new dawn on the horizon. Zero-Covid is the policy. It's very hard for China to change this policy. But so long as that is the policy there can't be any serious re-opening.

 

There simply is no end-game with a zero-Covid policy.

[Romio]

I am on a language year now, I started to learn Chinese in September from the scratch. I hoped that borders will open in 2022 for vaccinated people but with every new day I have less and less hope. I am planning to take an academic gap year after my language year before major study and go for work for 1 year, maybe they will open up in 2023... I still dont understand why being vaccinated with a Chinese vaccine and I am ready to spend money on the ticket and 2 weeks quarantine in a hotel or a quarantine center I still cant enter the country... Frustrating time..

[Insectosaurus]

On 11/10/2021 at 11:35 AM, 889 said:

We're two years into this with no new dawn on the horizon.

 

There is a quote button.

 

Several years ahead. Two years ago a vast majority of the country's population weren't vaccinated.

 

On 11/10/2021 at 11:35 AM, 889 said:

It's very hard for China to change this policy.

 

I very much doubt that. The future will tell.

[889]

I've been using this forum since practically the day it opened and I'll do quotes the way I want to, thank you very much.

 

The wishful thinkers here -- "Oh, it can't possibly go on that long!!!" -- should lay out their realistic how-it'll-end scenario.

[roddy]

It does make life slightly easier if the quote includes the poster and time, and a link to the source. But never mind.

 

If you can't currently get into China, I'd be giving serious thoughts to other plans. There really is no way of knowing, at the moment, what will happen with the pandemic or, crucially, anything else. China could open the borders, but then there's a sudden outbreak on the campus you happened to be going to, or there's some kind of crisis / crackdown which makes going much less appealing.

 

Notwithstanding what I said earlier, I think trips to China need a Plan B where possible, and at some point you may need to decide to put Plan B into action. There are significant opportunity costs to hanging around waiting.

[杰.克]

On 11/9/2021 at 12:31 AM, Serg said:

Never, let's be honest. They don't give a shit about us.

 

I think International students (are rightly so) at the bottom of a long list of priorities for the government. They obviously want to welcome international students, but ultimately, compared to their domestic population, you are not important at all. 

 

I sympathize with not being able to go, but I think expecting it to be any different (knowing China's rigid policy making environment, particularly around covid) is a little naïve. A little expectation adjustment might be needed here. You are valuable, you are important, and I bet the universities can't wait to have you back. But overall, your not a sizeable enough or important enough group, to change wider national policy.

 

I wouldn't want my government to set travel policy, by the needs of international students, and I come from a country where they are a much more important economic factor.

 

[alantin]

On 11/10/2021 at 11:19 AM, Insectosaurus said:

On 11/9/2021 at 10:08 PM, alantin said:

So why bother if you're not intending to open up sometime within the next couple of years?

Surely no one expects China to shut it's borders for several years ahead? No matter what they are actually communicating right now.

Yeah. My point is that the vaccinations give a signal that they are planning to open up soon, but the zero-cases policy seems to give the opposite signal. And if anything the quarantine requirements for inbound travelers have only gotten stricter since one year ago!

Someone also recently made the point to me that the current administration is mostly concentrating on "internal harmony" and economic growth and international trade seem to take second seat to it, which to me seems to also be evidenced by the long guaranties and only recognizing the Chinese vaccines for the business travelers.

[Singe]

On 11/9/2021 at 3:33 PM, markhavemann said:

It is getting stricter though, you now have to go get two separate covid test if your cellphone was even just connected to the same cellphone tower (800m range) as someone who is infected.

 

I was a bit slow on the uptake there, I thought you were implying that COVID is being spread by 5G! Now I get what you mean. 

 

Have to say I agree with the general sentiment of others, I think students will be low down the pecking order and it's probably not surprising. I do wonder how this will all play out. Pity, as I'm just at the stage now where I can travel and spend time in China for the first time in years.