The United States (US) has rescinded visas of over 1,000 Chinese students and researchers following an order by President Donald Trump that accused some of them of spying.

 The State Department offering its first figures on the effects of Trump’s order, disclosed this on Wednesday saying that more than 1,000 visas have been revoked since it began implementing the proclamation on June 1.

As tensions arose with Beijing on multiple fronts, Trump, in a May 29 proclamation stated that some Chinese nationals officially in the United States for study have stolen intellectual property and helped modernize China’s military.

According to a State Department spokeswoman, “The high-risk graduate students and research scholars made ineligible under this proclamation represent a small subset of the total number of Chinese students and scholars coming to the United States.

“We continue to welcome legitimate students and scholars from China who do not further the Chinese Communist Party’s goals of military dominance.”

The State Department however refused to give details on whose visas were revoked, citing privacy laws.

Nearly 370,000 students from China were enrolled at US universities in 2018-19, the most of any country, offering a rewarding source of income to institutions that are now battling with the increasing pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some Asian American activists have cautioned that Trump’s orders are creating a climate of suspicion on campuses, with students of Asian descent calling to question their intentions. But US officials said that the number of spying cases involving China has increased in recent years as part of a concerted effort by Beijing.

US officials accused China of wanting to steal university research into Covid-19, a reason behind Trump administration’s closure of China’s consulate in Houston in June.