“I’m here just like any other tourist, ticking off the must-see list,” said Yan. “Here I’m just like any other normal person. No quarantine, no face masks, no racism, unlike Australia.”
Allie Liu, a student from Guangzhou who asked not to be referred to by her real name, flew to Bangkok earlier this month to take a two-week break before returning to ANU to continue studying for a Bachelor of Science.
Australians shun Chinese restaurants amid coronavirus fears
“Although I have lots of high school friends here and it is quite a popular destination for Chinese people, I am not enjoying it as much as I should be on a holiday,” she said. “This is mainly because there’s so much confusion going around from the Australian government itself.”
The Department of Home Affairs has said it will deny entry “to anyone who has been in mainland China in the last 14 days”. But the Department of Education, Skills and Employment earlier this week issued an advisory saying that students who had spent at least 14 days outside China “may” be able to enter Australia.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Scott Morrison posted a message on the Chinese social media platform WeChat advising that students with valid visas would only be turned away if they had been to the mainland since February 1.
Liu said she understood the government’s decision to restrict travel but was angry that it had been introduced without any warning, amid conflicting messages about how it would be applied.
“I have friends who arrived in Australia on that day and got their visa cancelled and deported,” she said. “They were on the plane when this was announced! Having no time for the students to react leads to another big problem, which is our academic progress. It seems as if the Australian government just treats us like someone who is a cash bank, not students who contribute so much to their universities academically and socially.”
Liu said her detour through Thailand would end up costing her and her family about 15,000-20,000 yuan (US$2,100-2,900).“I worked two part-time jobs in Canberra,” she said. “Not every Chinese kid is rich. Not every Chinese family can afford the Australian tuition fees with ease, let alone the extra money we have to spend to enter Australia by chance.”
Universities have scrambled to readjust schedules and provide alternative study options such as online tuition and catch-up courses in response to the ban, which some observers have estimated could cost the sector up to A$8 billion (US$5.4 billion).
The international education sector is highly lucrative, generating about A$35 billion for the economy last year, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Australia universities brace for pain, shame from coronavirus travel bans
Chinese students, who account for about one-third of international enrolments, make up 11 per cent of the student population, with some universities relying on their tuition fees for nearly one-quarter of revenues.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton on Friday defended the decision to extend the ban to at least February 22 after the Chinese embassy in Canberra expressed “deep regret and dissatisfaction” over the government’s “extreme measures”.
Australia has confirmed 15 cases of the coronavirus, which causes a pneumonia-like disease known as Covid-19, including five patients that have made full recoveries. The outbreak has claimed nearly 1,400 lives and infected more than 64,000 people, most of them in mainland China, since emerging in Wuhan in December.
Yan, who is spending about A$10,000 on his trip to Japan, said the ban seemed excessive and motivated by disdain toward China.
“Many of us are travelling overseas, taking a detour route back to Australia,” he said. “I believe most others would happily pay the Australian government to put me in a nice quarantine facility and let me go to school afterwards.”
For Liu, who went to secondary school in New Zealand for several years, the experience has left such a bitter taste that she is reconsidering plans to stay in Australia long term.“I do regret choosing Australia for university, and even though the ban may be lifted and I may continue my degree in Australia later, I will most likely leave for other countries for a job or go back to New Zealand,” she said.
“I am sorry for such a negative comment … but this is the most realistic feeling I have right now, as my disappointment towards Australian education for international students has built up to a point that I want to give up.”
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