MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — With West Virginia University hosting students from 90 nations, pending federal legislation targeting some student visas has local government officials concerned.

Morgantown City Council recently passed a resolution opposing the Stop Chinese Communist Prying by Vindicating Intellectual Safeguards in Academia Act — also known as the Stop CCP VISAs Act.

Technically, the resolution is in support of a letter penned to the bill’s author, U.S. Rep. Riley Moore, by Liz Finklea and Sarah Barnes, respectively the chair and vice chair of the Morgantown Sister Cities Commission. Moore, R-W.Va., represents the district encompassing northern West Virginia.

The letter expresses the commission’s “strong opposition” to the legislation, which would bar Chinese students from studying in the United States.

Finklea and Barnes contend such legislation would unfairly presume guilt and treat all Chinese students as potential spies, undermine the principle of academic freedom, damage interpersonal relationships that serve as the underpinning of diplomatic goodwill and contradict America’s tradition of openness and opportunity.

“We respectfully urge you to reconsider your support for this legislation and instead work toward more nuanced approaches to addressing security concerns — approaches that do not sacrifice our values of openness, fairness and international cooperation.”

The cities of Morgantown and Xuzhou, a metropolis of nine million people that serves as the gateway to eastern China, have fostered a relationship dating back to a “Friendship City” agreement in 2012.

They officially became sister cities in 2016 via the Sister Cities program founded by President Dwight Eisenhower in 1956.

A scroll commemorating the relationship was delivered by former Xuzhou Vice Mayor Chen Hui in 2017 and hangs in Morgantown City Hall.

In 2020, during the height of the COVID pandemic, the city received a delivery of 20,000 disposable masks, 500 medical gowns and 300 pairs of goggles from Xuzhou to be distributed to area agencies.

In 2021, Morgantown City Council approved $15,000 to design a portion of a new eco-park in Xuzhou representing Morgantown and West Virginia.

“So between trade mission issues and education issues, we’ve covered quite a bit with our partner city in China, and I’m saddened that this is a possibility — not having Chinese students here. I think they’re one of the largest groups on campus,” Deputy Mayor Jenny Selin said. “If there’s some problem in particular, I would much rather that our government handle a problem in particular rather than as an entire group. So, I’m glad that we’re doing this.”

Councilor Bill Kawecki agreed, explaining, “I am disappointed with the congressman for even considering this kind of legislation.”

In their letter, Finklea and Barnes said the proposed legislation undermines the stated mission of the Sister Cities Commission and all other efforts at citizen diplomacy, concluding, “In Morgantown, we take this mission seriously.”