State Department Tammy Bruce Grilled On Secretary Rubio’s Push To Revoke Chinese Student Visas

Forbes Breaking News

During Thursday's State Department press briefing, Spokesperson Tammy Bruce answered questions about Secretary Marco Rubio's announcement regarding revoking Chinese student visas.

Transcript

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.

04:58MS.

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