During Thursday's State Department press briefing, Spokesperson Tammy Bruce answered questions about Secretary Marco Rubio's announcement regarding revoking Chinese student visas.
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00:00Well, yes.
00:01So I assume you were being sarcastic when you said that – I know none of you have
00:04questions about the visa policy.
00:05MS NAUERT, Of course.
00:06Yes.
00:07Sarcasm is my favorite thing.
00:08Yes.
00:09So anyway, I do have a couple questions.
00:10MS NAUERT, Sure.
00:11So I'll keep them brief.
00:12On the visa policy, specifically as it relates to China and the Chinese students, the statement
00:16that came out last night was – it wasn't very specific, shall we say, about what affiliations
00:22with the Chinese Communist Party and what critical areas of study would be – applicants for
00:31visas under those would be subjected to more scrutiny.
00:39So I'm wondering if there is an answer to what is the actual Chinese Communist Party affiliation
00:45that would make you ineligible for a visa, or what is the – what is – what are examples
00:51of the critical areas in which we'll be subject to?
00:54MS NAUERT, Well, since starting here at the State Department in January, I've been impressed
01:01with a number of things, most everything.
01:03But also learning about the nature of the visas – and I've said here regularly, many people
01:08watching around the world might not know – is that we don't give details about what
01:12our – our methods are regarding visas.
01:14Of course, everyone is vetted.
01:15I think if you've gone through the process, it's about filing for a visa, and then you have
01:19to have a meeting.
01:20You do it in your home country, your consulate, your embassy.
01:25And that's the process.
01:26So there is a vetting.
01:27There always has been.
01:28What we don't discuss, again, because of privacy issues, but also because it's different
01:32for each person – that there are a series of dynamics that can be applied, questions
01:36that can be asked, issues looked at.
01:39And we use every tool that we have to vet and to make sure we know who's coming in.
01:44In this particular case, the United States is putting America first by beginning to revoke
01:48visas of Chinese students as warranted, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist
01:54Party, as you mentioned, Matt, or studying in critical fields and enhancing scrutiny of
02:00visas for all Chinese nationals, including Hong Kong passport holders.
02:06I will not be getting into the details, not only of what the details are regarding the
02:12scrutiny and the methods regarding the visa itself, but also when it comes to critical
02:18fields.
02:19I was rather pleased, having seen very often announcements that don't really give any
02:24information – and there's reasons for that – for national security because there's
02:28negotiations, it's diplomatic, et cetera, or giving away the nature of how we choose to
02:33do things might give up our hand and make certain things less effective.
02:38In this case, when we think of critical fields, which is obviously a very specific phrase,
02:44we think about national security, the nature of how we keep America safe and secure and
02:50more prosperous.
02:51And it is important to have, I think, a broad base because that could mean something different
02:56to many people.
02:57It could mean many things.
02:58And this is going to be up to the people making the decisions.
03:02And I think that that's in the framework of what we've discussed regarding the visa actions
03:07as well when it comes to keeping America safe.
03:10The United States – I further can say here – will not tolerate the CCP's exploitation
03:15of U.S. universities or theft of U.S. research, intellectual property, or technologies to grow its
03:23military power, conduct intelligence collection, or repress voices of opposition.
03:30The Trump administration is focused on protecting our nation and our citizens by upholding our national
03:35security and public safety through our visa process, obviously very openly and transparently
03:41applied by Secretary Marco Rubio.
03:44Every visa adjudication is a national security decision – every single one of them.
03:51Every prospective traveler to the United States undergoes interagency security vetting.
03:56Prohibiting entry to the United States by those who might pose a threat to U.S. national
04:01security or public safety is key to protecting U.S. citizens at home.
04:08So we've experienced this through these last several weeks.
04:12It is something that is at the heart and really at the front line of protecting the country.
04:18And we're taking it seriously, and we're being open about the nature of what's happening
04:21in this particular instance.
04:22Okay.
04:23So can I just add that last bit that you just said, which was not in the statement last night,
04:26is a little bit more specific about –
04:29MS.
04:30Oh, yeah, about the nature of the theft of certain things.
04:32Yes.
04:33MS.
04:34Well, we – again, as reporters here all and curious people, you know the nature of
04:38what China has been doing about – you know, with technology, right, stealing information,
04:45intellectual property, U.S. research, copyrights, et cetera.
04:49MS.
04:50It's – this is not new or confusing, and this is one way that we certainly can try to mitigate
04:56that issue.
04:57Yes, Andrea Mitchell.
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