In touch with Beijing to help Pakistani students return to China — foreign office 

ISLAMABAD: The government is in touch with Chinese authorities to help thousands of Pakistanis studying in China return to their colleges and universities despite coronavirus travel restrictions imposed by Beijing, the Foreign Office said this week.
China suspended the entry of foreign nationals in late March to stop the spread of COVID-19. Students who returned to Pakistan when the pandemic broke out are now unable to return to China and fear they may lose years of education, and end up not getting degrees.
“We are constantly in touch with the Chinese authorities on the issue, and trying to resolve it as soon as possible,” Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri, the spokesperson for the Foreign Office, told Arab News.
He said that a dedicated Foreign Office team was pursuing the matter, saying the problem was not specific to Pakistan and Beijing had a uniform policy for all international students.
The Chinese embassy in Islamabad could not be reached for comment.
Approximately 28,000 Pakistani students are enrolled in Chinese educational institutions and about 5,000 are stuck in Pakistan.
“I will lose my medical degree if the Chinese government doesn’t allow me to rejoin my university in the next couple of weeks,” said Mishal Zubair, who is a final year undergrad student in medicine and surgery at the Wuhan University of Science and Technology.
Zubair returned to Pakistan in June on a special repatriation flight when the outbreak was at its peak in Wuhan city, where the coronavirus was first detected in China. She has since been taking online classes.
“Under Pakistani rules, if I fail to attend classes in person for two consecutive semesters, my medical degree won’t be recognized,” she said.
Pirah Channa, who is pursuing a doctoral degree in textiles from Zhejiang University in Hangzhou and has been back home since February, said she was facing communication problems during online classes because not all instructors had were fluent in English. “We are losing our precious time,” she said.
Students say they have written to the Foreign Office and the Chinese embassy in Islamabad to seek help, but have yet to receive a response.
“No government official and even the Chinese embassy in Islamabad are responding to our emails for visa extensions and updates on our courses,” Nasiruddin, an electronic engineering student at Southeast University in Nanjing, who has been in Pakistan since January, told Arab News.
He said some Chinese universities had engaged students in online classes, but that was not feasible for Pakistani students due to the time difference and poor Internet connectivity in many areas.
“I was planning to publish a paper by the end of this year on the basis of my research work in the university laboratory to complete my degree,” Nasiruddain said, “but for now that all stands upended.”