Japan urges universities to accept students hit by US block

The Trump administration moved last week to block Harvard from enrolling foreign students, but on Friday a judge suspended the order pending a hearing.

Trump is furious at Harvard for rejecting Washington's oversight on admissions and hiring, amid his claims the school is a hotbed of anti-Semitism and "woke" liberal ideology.

Japanese Education Minister Toshiko Abe said on Tuesday that her ministry has asked Japanese universities to do what they can to help those affected.

She said the United States is the most popular destination for Japanese students wishing to study abroad, and many of them have voiced worries about their status.

The University of Tokyo, among the Japan's most prestigious universities, is considering accepting affected students in the United States, albeit on a temporary basis, the university's vice president Kaori Hayashi said in a recent interview with the Nikkei newspaper.

A spokesman for Kyoto University, also an elite school, told AFP on Wednesday that the institution was considering accepting young researchers from US universities and was also reviewing what it can do to help students in the US.

Taiwan's education ministry said it will try to assist students to transfer back to Taiwanese institutions.

But it advised Taiwanese students at Harvard to "stay calm and wait for further updates" while the legal challenge is ongoing.