U.S. cancels visas for over 1,000 Chinese nationals

The United States has revoked visas for more than 1,000 Chinese nationals.

A State Department spokeswoman said Wednesday that's due to a presidential proclamation issued in May to suspend entry of students and researchers from China deemed to be security risks.

The news comes as U.S. President Donald Trump makes getting tough on China a key part of his campaign for reelection in November, and relations between the two countries sink to historic lows.

In a speech on Wednesday(September 9), acting Department of Homeland Security head Chad Wolf repeated U.S. charges of unjust business practices and industrial espionage by China, including alleged attempts to steal research, and accused Beijing of abusing student visas to exploit American academia.

"DHS (Homeland Security) has and will continue to play a critical role in the United States' strategic approach to China. We are blocking visas for certain Chinese graduate students and researchers with ties to China's military fusion strategy to prevent them from stealing and otherwise appropriating sensitive research."

President Trump's May 29 proclamation was part of the U.S. response to China's curbs on democracy in Hong Kong.

A State Department spokeswoman said the affected quote "high-risk graduate students and research scholars" represented "a small subset" of Chinese coming to the U.S. -- and that legitimate students and scholars would continue to be welcomed.

China said in June it resolutely opposed any U.S. move to restrict Chinese students from studying there -- and urged Washington to do more to enhance mutual exchanges and understanding.

Some 360,000 Chinese nationals study in the United States, bringing in significant revenue for U.S. colleges.