内容摘要：Mr Williams still maintains that before he left, he never had the effect of different discharge dates explained to him – and that he would never have accepted redundancy on the earlier date had he known an extra two years would have effectively doubled his pension.

Mr Williams still maintains that before he left, he never had the effect of different discharge dates explained to him – and that he would never have accepted redundancy on the earlier date had he known an extra two years would have effectively doubled his pension.

What was surprising, or even shocking then, slowly turned normal as more and more Chinese students struggled to secure visas or admissions to study science and technology in US universities.Mr Cao, a psychology major whose research involves neuroscience, has spent the past school year applying for PhD programs in the US.

He had graduated from top-tier universities - credentials that could send him to an Ivy League school. But of the more than 10 universities he applied to, only one extended an offer.Trump's cuts to biomedical research didn't help, but the mistrust surrounding Chinese researchers was also a factor. Allegations and rumours of espionage, especially in sensitive subjects, have loomed over Chinese nationals at US universities in recent years, even derailing some careers."One of the professors even told me, 'We rarely give offers to Chinese students these days, so I cannot give you an interview," Mr Cao told the BBC in February.

"I feel like I am just a grain of sand under the wheel of time. There is nothing I can do."For those who did graduate from US colleges, returning home to China has not been easy either.

They used to be lauded as a bridge to the rest of the world. Now, they find that their once-coveted degrees don't draw the same reaction.

Chen Jian, who did not want to use his real name, said he quickly realised that his undergraduate degree from a US college had become an obstacle.The local authority said it was aware of "sensitivities relating to the proximity of Rebellion to this development, and the potential noise nuisance which could be created in the future" and work was ongoing to ensure a solution.

The venue's co-owner Alex Kostyakov said an appropriate acoustic assessment had not been completed and he had not been consulted by developers."They did [the assessment] on a Friday and Saturday night and didn't event mention that we're an all-week venue in the planning submission," he said.

"We have heavy metal gigs on Monday nights, people moving in aren't going to be expecting that," the 31-year-old from Swinton said."If you've got a Sunday off and you're trying to relax in your flat and we've got a loud punk bank playing it's not going to work.