The return of Fulbright exchanges to China and Hong Kong

Reintroduction of the international exchange program will allow student and worker mobility to recommence between the US and China and the US and Hong Kong.

The House and Senate will now devise final competition legislation before potentially confirming the legislation.

This approval would overturn an executive order made by the Trump administration in July 2020 which put a stop to the exchange program which has allowed… Trump gave little explanation for this decision apart from what he called China’s “oppressive actions”.

The decision was generally condemned by many in international education who thought that the move was further detrimental to students following on from what was already a challenging year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the US government, and the China-Fulbright program was designed to increase mutual understanding between the participants from the US and China. It was first established by president Harry S. Truman in 1946 following World War II and has existed in Hong Kong for 17 years. Speaking on the creation of the programme last year, U.S Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said there was “an urgent need to create lasting conditions for peace, to build mutual understanding among nations, to foster goodwill among their people”.