"Are You Like This Dog?" US Embassy's Student Visa Post Angers Chinese

"Spring has come and the flowers are in bloom. Are you like this dog who can't wait to go out and play?" said the post in Chinese, which was accompanied by a video of an excited puppy trying to climb over a safety gate.

The resumption of student visa applications at U.S. missions in China got off to an acrimonious start this week when netizens took exception to an American embassy social media post they interpreted as likening Chinese students to dogs. Former U.S. President Donald Trump, whose time in office was marked by tense relations in Beijing, had in January last year barred nearly all non-U.S. citizens who were in China from entering the United States after the coronavirus outbreak. On the Twitter-like Weibo service on Wednesday, the visa section of the U.S. embassy in China asked students what they were waiting for after the Biden administration eased restrictions. "Spring has come and the flowers are in bloom. Are you like this dog who can't wait to go out and play?" said the post in Chinese, which was accompanied by a video of an excited puppy trying to climb over a safety gate.