The March of the Chinese Communist Party through Western Universities.
The last few months have been awash with reports of state interference, intimidation and indoctrination from hostile Chinese actors in an array of western institutions, but most noticeably, in our universities. CANZUK cooperation on this front would strengthen our resilience and offer freedom-loving democracies a template for protection from the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).
Led by Tom Tugendhat MP, a vocal critic of the UK Government’s approach to the threat posed by China to democracy around the world, the Foreign Affairs Committee published a report in November 2019 focussed on the influence of autocracies on academic freedom in British universities. The report found that China is chief amongst those using financial, political or diplomatic pressure to shape the agendas and curricula of UK higher education institutions.
The report presented several examples of how influence on Chinese students takes shape through supposedly independent Chinese bodies, including intimidation and surveillance of Chinese students studying in the UK by the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) - an organisation supposedly supporting students whilst reporting them to the Chinese embassy.
In both the UK and Australia, the CSSA is also reported to train and organise students to act as pro-China demonstrators to drown out the voice of pro-democracy protests at the direction of embassy officials. Students vocal in their opposition to China’s actions in Hong Kong and Xinjiang have even reported that their relatives in China have been monitored and harassed as a result.
The report also suggests that senior figures in Russell Group Universities including a Pro Vice Chancellor have pulled speakers after requests from the Chinese Embassy. Nottingham University, who boast a campus in China, allegedly cancelled events on Tibet and Taiwan upon receiving pressure from Chinese officials.
Over the last couple of years, western nations have begun to wake up to the threat posed by China to our universities. Action is now being taken by universities to protect their staff and students and by Governments to protect academic freedom and national security.
The Australian Government were amongst the first to act. In late 2017, Foreign Interference Laws were introduced aimed at curbing the Chinese Communist Party’s covert influence over Chinese students on Australian campuses. In December 2018, the Foreign Influence Transparency Scheme in Australia (FITSA) was created, essentially requiring individuals and organisations with links to foreign states to register with the Australian authorities. Under the scheme, two senior scholars recently had their visas revoked for allegations of political interference on behalf of the CCP.
The UK Government seems to have taken heed of the Foreign Affairs Committees report, committing to working cross-department to identify and mitigate the risks raised. Formal guidance from Universities UK is being drawn up for universities to protect themselves and their students from foreign state interference. This week, the Government announced that they are toughening security vetting rules under the Academic Technology Approval Scheme (ATAS) to bar oversees students from studying any courses that could aid the advancement of military technology. This is mirrored in the US where the FBI have accused China of using students as “non-traditional collectors” of intellectual property.
A US Senate report recently recommended that the Department of Justice consider registering Confucius Institutes under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Meanwhile the US State Department are reviewing the actions of two supposedly independent Chinese organisations (the US-China Friendship Association and the China Council for the Promotion of Peaceful Reunification) over suspicions that they are attempting to influence schools, businesses and local politicians on behalf of the CCP.
In recent weeks, it has been reported that the University of Oxford will anonymise academic submissions from students of Chinese Politics in anticipation that China’s draconian Security Laws may put Chinese nationals at risk. In the US, Princeton will take similar protective measures by giving students code names. Professors at Harvard and the University of Pennsylvania are reportedly issuing warnings to students that selecting their courses could put them at risk.
With improvements now being made in several states to protect academic freedom and respond to the threat of Chinese interference, the time has come for greater international cooperation in this fight. Conservatives for CANZUK agree with the Foreign Affairs Committee’s recommendation that further dialogue with the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand is needed, particularly given that four of our five countries are the most popular destination for Chinese students. Agreement and mutual action on this front between CANZUK and the US would act as a global example to other democracies who share our concerns but feel unable to take a stand.
A set of guiding principles agreed between our five nations, could in turn be adopted by other countries at risk. The Association of Commonwealth Universities would be the ideal forum for a wider agreement, given its membership of over 500 universities across 50 countries. Acting in solidarity in this way would help to alleviate the fears of many universities and nations who receive substantial research funding from China and are increasingly reliant on the tuition fees of Chinese students. In the UK alone, Chinese students account for 5% of all revenue in the university sector, contributing £2bn in fees annually.
Greater cooperation between CANZUK and the Commonwealth more broadly can help to diversify student recruitment from international students and limit universities’ dependence on Chinese tuition fees. Greater cooperation in research and the encouragement of exchange programmes between like-minded nations should be pursued, as our recent piece on Trans-CANZUK education explains. An international fund for research on health, technology and science innovation should be created to replace essential funding that is currently provided by Chinese organisations with questionable transparency - on the basis that universities commit to the agreed academic freedoms and security principles.
An agreement on this scale would go further than steps outlined by the US, Australia and the UK to protect their own higher education institutions from Chinese state interference. It would be a defining moment that could turn the tide on the march of the CPP through universities across the democratic world. The time to act is upon us - CANZUK should partner with the US to lead the way.