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Chinese international students at Syracuse University and their families are grappling with a potential loss of communication following President Donald Trump’s decision to ban WeChat, a popular Chinese social app.

The Trump administration signed an executive order Aug. 6 imposing a partial ban on WeChat, a multipurpose app that functions like a combination of Twitter, WhatsApp, Facebook and PayPal. In justifying its decision, the White House claimed that WeChat automatically retrieves users’ data and allows “the Chinese Communist Party access to Americans’ personal and proprietary information.”

The app, which had a total of 1.17 billion users by early 2020, is largely used by native Chinese people. The Trump administration’s ban prohibits anyone residing in the United States—including international students at SU, who frequently use the app to communicate with their families—from performing “transactions” with the app starting 45 days after the order was enacted.

“The new policy definitely adds difficulty to international students and their families,” said Xinyue Chen, an international student and advertising major at SU. “My friends and I could adjust to new apps and new ways (of communicating) easily, but what about my family?”

Many parents of Chinese international students use WeChat as the only way to stay in touch with their children, who are thousands of miles away from home, Chen said. Most parents are not familiar with other apps, which may take more time for them to understand.

Aorui Pi, a senior international student and advertising major, believes using WeChat is going to become more complicated if the Trump administration continues to tighten restrictions on the app.

“My uncle is worried about me so much,” Pi said. “Every time when I repost Syracuse news, he (asks) me, ‘Are you going to be affected? Is it possible to come back after graduate?’ — more importantly — ‘Are you safe?’”

Miao Luo, an international student studying architecture, said his parents are concerned about the consequences of the worsening relationship between China and the U.S., including increased restrictions on Chinese apps such as WeChat.

Constantly hearing about the negative news in the U.S. gives many Chinese parents anxiety, especially when they notice that COVID-19 infections and deaths are rising in the country, Luo said.

“I believe most of the parents feel the same way,” he said.

WeMedia Lab, an extension of SU’s media department that serves Chinese students, is trying to mitigate international students’ concerns over the WeChat ban, said Yuyue Wang, president of WeMedia Lab.

WeMedia Lab believes the ban will not influence SU’s official subscription to the app, and there won’t be any difficulties for SU students, Wang said.

Ze Zeng, vice president of WeMedia Lab, said that most of the concerns WeMedia Lab has heard from the international student community are about how the university is going to protect students if the Trump administration expands the ban.

Still, some international students said the Trump administration’s decision to ban WeChat made them feel unwelcome in the U.S.

“Banning WeChat makes me feel (like I’m) being rejected,” Chen said.

Published on August 31, 2020 at 12:08 am