The Chinese students policing Britain’s universities Self-censoring academics live in terror (by Sam Dunning)
“Surreal.”
This was how Professor Michelle Shipworth described her ordeal at University College London,
after a Chinese student complained about an innocuous presentation slide on
slavery in China. Instead of leaping to her defence, UCL accused her of being anti-Chinese and endangering
its lucrative income from Chinese students. After she was banned from teaching
her “provocative” energy and social sciences course, her case was taken up by
the Free Speech Union, which presented documentary evidence of what they called
“undue deference to the sensitivity of some Chinese students that is utterly
incompatible with academic freedom”.
Shipworth
is not the first to run into trouble. And that’s because the problem is more
profound than many realise. Many universities need these students. Were their
fees to disappear entirely from Britain, with no other income found to replace
them, many institutions would go under within a year or two. Some universities
will even accept Chinese students without proper qualifications or basic
English-language skills, so great is their desire for the fees.
Sometimes,
issues arise because many Chinese students have been moulded by the jingoistic
politics of authoritarian China. Xi Jinping’s promises to deliver the “Great
Rejuvenation of the Chinese nation” and “Reunification of the Ancestor-land”
make Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” mantra seem gentle by
comparison. The emotion this inspires can move people to respond aggressively
to perceived slights upon China’s character. Such displays of nationalism may
be sincere, or they may be a means of improving one’s own reputation, fishing
for a reward or promotion, or going viral on CCP-controlled social media.
Universities should back academics in the face of pressure from these
nationalists.
The
problem, however, is more complicated than a bunch of young chauvinists making
noise on UK campuses. As the charity I run, UK-China Transparency,
has shown, the CCP has institutionalised its presence at British universities.
Chinese Students and Scholars Associations (CSSAs) are present on roughly 100
British campuses. Most are formally registered as student societies under the
authority of university student unions and typically describe themselves as
“branches” of a central UK CSSA based at the Chinese embassy in London. This
acts as an overseas office for an organisation controlled by the CCP’s United
Front Work Department, which conducts influence operations abroad and was
name-checked by MI5 in 2022. Most CSSAs publicly admit — though sometimes only
in official documents published in Mandarin — that they are under the
“guidance”, “control” or “leadership” of the embassy, which runs training
programmes and networking events for CSSA leaders.
We
also have Confucius Institutes on 30 campuses. These centres are typically
organised as partnerships between one Chinese university, one British
university and the Chinese government. Although nominally for language
teaching, they have in fact been involved in a whole range of activities, from
events in Parliament to teaching undergraduate courses. One teaches Chinese
traditional medicine and offers massages to the general public, for a fee.
UK-China Transparency has shown how staff from China teaching in British
Institutes have to follow CCP “discipline” rules that would oblige them to
inform on university members if requested. Rishi Sunak promised to ban them
but, as former foreign secretary James Cleverly admitted in an interview, the decision was reversed because of fears about
CCP retaliation.
And
if that’s not “surreal” enough, consider the China Scholarship Council’s
footprint in Britain. This Chinese government body gives stipends to hundreds
of PhD scholars in the UK, selecting them on the basis of their political
leanings as well as their academic merit. British universities then pay these
scholars’ fees. Like CSSAs, scholarship recipients are formally obliged to
accept “guidance and management” from Chinese diplomats in the UK — with
penalties imposed on them and their families if they fail to do so or otherwise
negatively impact China’s national security. As with Confucius Institutes and
CSSAs, all these expectations are spelled out in official documents — in Mandarin.
Meanwhile,
the CCP has active eyes and ears on British campuses in the form of party
members, which includes, for example, many visiting academics. All CCP members
have taken an admission oath, by which they vow to obey the CCP, uphold its
“discipline” and guard CCP secrets. They agree to act on the CCP’s behalf, and
face special sanctions and punishments if they fail to do so, along with
rewards for good behaviour.
Although
the subject receives periodic attention from politicians, this scandal has
essentially been ignored for a decade or more. Britain is only now beginning to
come to terms with the CCP’s presence on our campuses. Likened by one scholar
to a “python in the chandelier”, the Party is always looming — even if it
strikes only occasionally. And it is those students and academics with family
in China who feel most keenly the CCP’s presence. Most simply self-censor,
knowing that their university is not a “safe space” for free discussion. Better
to keep schtum than say something about Tibet or democracy in China which is
reported back, because the consequences can be dire.
A
minority ignore the warning signs, and courageously persist past the first
clear indication that they are being watched. Most often, these brave
individuals are called by family members in China, who explain that they have
been visited by the police forces. Family members pass on a clear message from
the authorities: stop now and come home. If you don’t, then you will never see
your family again and they too will be affected, in their careers, in their
access to government support, in their community. These are the consequences
for Chinese students and academics in our country if they defy the CCP and
stand by it.
It is
worth underlining how much speech the CCP forbids and how ridiculously broad
its definition of “national security” is. In China, forbidden speech is treated
as terrorism — and includes any discussion of Tibet, Taiwan, the Uyghurs, human
rights, politics, corruption and religion that transgresses the party’s red
lines. So restrictive is the speech environment in China that, during the
anti-lockdown protests of 2023, people took to holding up blank pieces of paper
as a sign of protest. Hundreds at least were arrested. Displaying “White Paper”
remains a sign of protest. Given these sensitivities and the university
sector’s dependence on Chinese money, one can see how difficult it might be to
have a meaningful discussion about China’s history, politics, society or
economy.
British
academics beginning their careers know that if they put a foot wrong in this
regard, they will find it difficult to go to China, let alone gain access to
any interesting material or interesting sources. Last year, for instance, I and
others working on a Channel 4 documentary about
China exposed how Professor Steve Tsang, a leading British China expert, was
censored by Nottingham University, which closed down his China studies centre because of CCP
pressure. Elsewhere, Dr Jo Smith Finley of Newcastle University was sanctioned
directly by the Chinese government for her work. One academic in New Zealand
had her home and office broken into because of her research into CCP influence
abroad. Even those who are not China specialists, such as Shipworth, may find
that their teaching leads to “problems”. They need and deserve their
universities’ support.
The
strategic aim here isn’t hard to glean: over time, such interference has the
potential to distort our knowledge of China itself, which is, of course,
exactly what the CCP wants. This is also reflected in new restrictions on
foreign access to corporate data, academic journals, and national statistics. Some sinologists tell me that this process
started decades ago and that the well has already been poisoned. Only the
courage of Shipworth, Tsang and whistleblowers like them can stop the creeping
extension of CCP authority into our universities. Our academic freedom depends
on it.
***
If you have been affected by any of the issues in
this article, contact UK-China Transparency at info@ukctransparency.org
Sam Dunning is
a writer and researcher who serves as director of UK-China Transparency, a
volunteer-run charity that promotes education about ties between the UK and
China.
The
Chinese students policing Britain's universities - UnHerd
