China criticized the United States on Wednesday for temporarily halting interviews for new student visas after Secretary of State Marco Rubio reportedly issued the directive this week. 

On Tuesday, Rubio ordered U.S. embassies to pause scheduling new student visa interviews as the Trump administration considers whether to expand social media vetting for international students seeking to study in the U.S. The order is likely to affect Beijing disproportionately, as China is second only to India in terms of the number of students it sends to U.S. universities.