The Trump administration’s move to bar Harvard University from enrolling international students has ricocheted across China, with officials and commentators seeing it through one lens: the growing rivalry between Washington and Beijing.

BANGKOK (AP) — The Chinese government said Friday that the Trump administration’s move to ban international students from Harvard would harm America’s international standing, as anxious students and parents overseas fretted over what would come next.

China heavily criticized the Trump administration’s decision Thursday to bar Harvard University from enrolling international students and vowed that Beijing will protect the rights of its students studying overseas.