Subject: Special Issue of CND-EP, October 19, 1990

From: Bo Xiong <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 18 Oct 90 23:09:07 -0500

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=====================  Europe / Pacific Section (CND-EP)  =====================
                                October 19, 1990
 
       Special Issue Reporting New Development of Mainland Student
		    Visa Status in the North America

---------------------------- Table of Contents ---------------------------
No. Subject                                                     # of Lines

1. US Waived 6,410 Mainland Students Two-Year Home Country Stay,
   Additional 12,000 Changed Their Visa Status..........................25

2. Report on Permanent Residency from Ottawa, Canada....................35

3. Readr's Commentary: Why Are Chinese Students Afraid to Return Home?..65
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1. US Waived 6,410 Mainland Students Two-Year Home Country Stay,
   Additional 12,000 Changed Their Visa Status
====================================================================(25 lines)
>From: [email-masked] (Bo Xiong)
Source: soc.culture.china

World Journal (A New York Chinese Newspaper) reports:

According to the statistics of Unites States Immigration and Naturalization
Services, during the period of December 18, 1989 and the end of September,
1990:

1)  5,819 PRC J-1 visa bearers applied for the waiver of the requirement for
    two-year home country stay.  6,410 were granted the waiver (some of the
    applications were filed with US INS before December 18, 1989, so the # of
    approvals is greater than the # of applications), 14 were denied.

2)  46,847 PRC nationals applied for work permit, US INS approved 43,730 and
    denied 730, the rest are under processing.

3)  12,000 PRC nationals applied for changing into other non-immigrant status,
    9,446 were approved and 92 denied, some are to be processed.

4)  1,044 PRCers applied for the advanced parol, 1,003 approved and 9 were
    denied, more to be processed. (Note: advanced parol is a guaranteed US
    re-entry visa).

5)  Among 2,644 US PR applications, 2,337 were granted PR and 35 denied, the
    rest is to be processed.

(Excerpted from World Journal, Page 3, October 13, 1990)
==============================================================================

2. Report on Permanent Residency from Ottawa, Canada
====================================================================(35 lines)
Provided by CND-Canada Editor Bo Chi <[email-masked]>
>From: [email-masked]

  PR Program for Chinese students to end soon, officials say
 
Oct. 15, Ottawa-- The special immigration program for Chinese students and
other Chinese nationals will "soon come to an end and those who still intend
to apply should do it soon," Canadian immigration officials said today.
 
Mr. Jim May, director of the Immigrant and Visitor with the Canadian Ministry
of Employment and Immigration, made the remarks in a meeting with FCSSC Vice
President Qu Tao, who came here to discuss problems concerning family
reunifications and PR status for Chinese students.
 
"The Chinese government said during the June Fourth Event that Chinese students
were equally to blame for events on Tiananmen Square. That's why we are
offering the special program for Chinese students here," Mr. May said.
 
According to official statistics, 8,935 Chinese nationals have applied for
permanent residence status in Canada since the Chinese government ordered
troops to shoot at pro-democracy students and civilians in Beijing on June 3,
1989. Of the figure, 7,929 received approval in principle before June 4, 1990.
 
Now the situation in China is "stabilized," immigration process should be "back
to normal," Mr. May said, adding: "We know the majority of the students will
not risk prosecution if they go back except for a few."
 
And there will be a distinction between those who came before June and after
June last year when the immigration officer is considering individual cases
because "it will be harder for those who came after June to argue for the
presence of danger when they go back."
 
However, he noted that those who have already received approval in principle
will sooner or later get their landing papers.
 
Mr. May and two other immigration officials also answered questions about
family reunification, temporary absence from Canada with PR status and
other related matters. A detailed report will be issued by Mr. Qu upon his
return to Toronto. (Bing Wen)
==============================================================================

3. Readr's Commentary: Why Are Chinese Students Afraid to Return Home?
====================================================================(65 lines)
Provided by CND-Canada Editor Bo Chi <[email-masked]>
>From: [email-masked]
 
COMMENTARY:
         Why are Chinese Students Afraid to Return Home?
 
     Ask any Chinese student in Ottawa whether he or she is going back home
after graduation, the answer is likely to be "no" or "don't know yet."
 
      "To go back would mean to go to jail," said student activist Oliver Yuan
in an interview with the Citizen a few days before the first anniversary of
the Tiananmen Massacre on June 4.

     His fear is shared by the 7,666 Chinese nationals who have applied to
stay in Canada under special "humanitarian and compassionate" considerations
announced by the Canadian government after the Chinese government used tanks
to crush peaceful pro-democracy movement in Beijing last year.
 
     Apart from those like Yuan who have been actively involved in "anti-
Chinese government organizations," most Chinese students and exchange scholars
are only occasional or emotional participants in activities such as last
Sunday's rally outside the Chinese Embassy. But they, too, feel no less fear
when thinking about going back to China.
 
     The People's Republic of China, since its founding in 1949, has been
largely ruled by the will of their leaders rather than by law. The leader's
will determines the fate of the people. In 1957 "great leader" Mao Tse-tung
solicited "valuable criticism and suggestions" from Chinese intellectuals in
an attempt to root out any potential dissidents.
 
     The intellectuals, a general term in Chinese that refers to people who
have either college education or specialized training, were literarily
overwhelmed by such a favour. They did not expect that they would be labelled
"rightists of anti-socialism" and end up in jail or labour camps only months
later.
 
     For those who had returned from abroad to help build a new China and who
had refused to retreat to Taiwan with the Nationalist government when it was
defeated by the Communists in 1949, the tribulation was even worse. They were
suspected to be agents serving Taiwan or international imperialists.
 
     Those survived the 1966-76 cultural revolution, an unprecedented movement
in Chinese history to prosecute intellectuals, got rehabilitated after the Mao
Era ended. But they have lost confidence. Whenever they can they seek
opportunities to go abroad and stay or encourage their children to do so.
 
     The Beijing slaughter has betrayed the last mask of the Chinese Communist
Party that rules the country from central government to grassroots work units.
Can one trust a government whose premier affirmed the patriotic nature of the
student pro-democracy movement before millions of TV viewers and then ate his
words and awarded the troops that killed students?
 
     Is the government trustworthy which releases students when it feels the
need to present a better image to the West for a favourable trade agreement
and jails them again when it senses the danger of another peaceful protest for
democracy? The answer, again, is likely to be "no."
 
     The Chinese students who have applied for permanent residence in Canada
were certainly aware of the bleak future (if not immediate danger) that
awaited them in China. For them, to be an overseas patriot that makes academic
or business tours back home when time is not too harsh seems to be a reasonable
choice as long as China remains under the Communist Party's dictatorship.
 
(Note: This commentary was written four months ago for the local press to mark
the first anniversary of the Tiananmen Event. As one of the Chinese students
abroad, I understand and share my fellow students' will not to go back home
after graduation. I hope this piece of writing would generate further
discussions and that FCSSC and other organizations formed by Chinese nationals
would do more publicity work to make ourselves understood by our host nation.
Bing Wen)
=============================================================================

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