<
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2025/aug/04/uk-academics-studying-topics-sensitive-to-china-face-harassment-survey-finds>
"Academics and students of Chinese studies in Britain are being subject to
harassment, surveillance and pressure to self-censor as they seek to avoid
disruption to funding, a survey of universities by a transparency group has
concluded.
The findings by UK-China Transparency coincide with new government guidance
stating that universities may be breaching rules by having partnerships with
foreign governments that require academic staff to pass ideological tests – for
example, by hosting Confucius Institutes.
Academics working on topics that are politically sensitive to the Chinese
Communist party (CCP) reported instances of harassment from colleagues and
pressure from university administrators related to the financial consequences
of damaging relations with China.
One academic involved in sensitive research stopped teaching after experiencing
harassment from a visiting scholar from China, who whispered “we’re watching
you” in one case and interrogated the academic about their personal history at
another event. Another scholar experienced a severe campaign of online
harassment.
A respondent stated that their Chinese students had confided in him that they
had been asked to spy on campus events by Chinese police, and another said they
were told by Chinese students that surveillance was omnipresent and that
students were interviewed by officials on their return to China.
The results suggest that the academic landscape is mixed, with some
institutions demonstrating higher resilience and supporting scholars working on
sensitive topics than others."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
