Winton Dong dht0620@126.com WHEN catastrophe strikes, a person feels small in the scheme of things. As famous Wuhan writer Fang Fang said in her locked-city diary: “Even a little speck of dust in our age falling on one person’s head will be as heavy as a big mountain.” The novel coronavirus, which is sweeping China and the rest of the world, has not only inflicted pain on patients and medics, but also greatly influenced the lives of many common people such as young Chinese students who are studying or aim to study in the United States, Britain, Australia and other foreign countries. To curb the spread of the virus, in early February, the U.S. Government implemented an entry ban on all foreign nationals who have traveled to the Chinese mainland in the past 14 days. The British Government did not follow suit, but has temporarily closed all U.K. visa application centers in China and suspended flights to and from some Chinese cities hit by the epidemic. Like British schools, most U.S. universities began their spring semester in January. When the U.S. travel ban was put into effect in early February, the majority of Chinese students had already gone back to their schools, thus making the impact of the ban, to some extent, limited. Chinese students who are studying in Australia were not so lucky since almost all Aussie schools began their new semester in February. On Feb. 1, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a two-week entry ban for foreign nationals traveling from the Chinese mainland. He later added that the ban would be extended on a weekly basis. Such a policy change came without any notice in advance, and has also made the way back to Australian schools the longest distance for Chinese students. As a result, hundreds of thousands of Chinese students studying in Australian universities and schools were stranded offshore after the long summer holiday. The Australian Government said on Feb. 23 that it would ease restriction and allow about 760 Year-11 and Year-12 Chinese high school students to apply to return. None of them are from Hubei Province, the epicenter of the virus outbreak. Their applications would be considered on a case-by-case basis, and those who were successful would be subjected to a 14-day self-imposed quarantine upon arrival. According to concerned statistics, Australia’s prestigious Group of Eight universities (namely Australia National University, Melbourne University, Sydney University, New South Wales University, Queensland University, Adelaide University, Western Australia University and Monash University) now have more than 100,000 Chinese students, and more than 60,000 of them are still barred from entering Australia. Some students are advised to travel through a third country since, as long as they are outside China for 14 days, they would be permitted entry to Australia. But such a practice is very costly for youngsters and may even run the risk of other sudden policy changes. According to foreign reports, Western Sydney University will offer each student arriving in Australia through a third country A$1,500 (US$1,400) to help cover the cost of airfares. The situation is even worse for Chinese students who are now applying for fall semester enrollment at foreign schools this year. With the suspension of all international tests, such as ACT, TOEFL, IELTS, GMAT and GRE, and all visa services, their timeline will surely be affected. If students cannot get test scores and visas before the deadlines set by schools, they may have to wait another year. To meet the challenges, Chinese students should keep a close eye on the policy changes and application procedures of their target countries and schools. They should also have alternatives and backup plans just in case. Various universities should also be flexible and make some changes to meet the challenges. For example, Sydney University has decided to postpone its new semester opening date from Feb. 24 to March 30. Meanwhile, foreign schools can also use substitute means to evaluate the English proficiency of Chinese applicants. Frankly speaking, such a problem cannot be totally solved by students and schools themselves. China’s foreign affairs departments should also join efforts with concerned countries to find a satisfactory solution via diplomatic channels. (The author is the editor-in-chief of Shenzhen Daily with a Ph.D. from the Journalism and Communication School of Wuhan University.) |