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The United States government's interrogation and harassment of Chinese students and scholars in the country goes against its leader's statement that the country does not seek a "new Cold War", and will harm the healthy development of its relations with China, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

Recently, a visiting scholar with a visa issued by the US government was interrogated at a border crossing for no reason before being repatriated, in another case of the frequent US harassment of Chinese people going there for academic programs, ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said.

About 30 Chinese students and visiting scholars have been subjected to such unjust treatment by the US since August, Wang said at a daily news briefing.

Most of them were asked if they or their parents are members of the Communist Party of China or if they had been assigned any tasks by the Chinese government, Wang said, adding that some were deported based on "unthinkable excuses".

For example, some were suspected by the US government of having a military background just because they had photos of them undergoing military training at college on their cellphones, Wang said.

"Such interrogations far exceed what the US calls 'normal law enforcement'," he said.

The US administration is carrying on the "poisonous" approach of its predecessor while claiming to welcome Chinese students, and some of its law enforcement departments and personnel continued to abuse the concept of "national security" and tried to create a "chilling effect" among Chinese students and scholars by harassing them, Wang said.

This practice runs counter to the win-win nature of bilateral people-to-people exchanges, seriously hurts the feelings of people of both sides and undermines mutual trust and bilateral cooperation, he added.

"We urge the US to stop such self-harming behavior and create a good atmosphere and necessary conditions for China-US people-to-people exchanges and education cooperation," Wang said, adding that China will firmly protect the lawful rights of Chinese people studying in the US.