the Times: China tries to gag UK universities

Beijing targets critics on campuses, MPs warn

The Chinese government has attempted to curb criticism on British campuses of its regime by pressuring universities into limiting academic freedom, MPs have said.

“Alarming” evidence of Chinese interference has been found by the Commons foreign affairs committee, which says that it appears to be coming from the embassy in London.

The MPs are particularly concerned that the battle for Chinese student fees and other investment “should not outweigh” longstanding international standards of academic freedom. In its report, Defending Democracy in an Age of Autocracies the committee found:

Chinese students

UK universities had nearly twice as many students from China as they did from Northern Ireland in 2017/18

•A pro-vice-chancellor at an unnamed Russell Group university cancelled a speaker after contact from the Chinese embassy.

•An unnamed vice-chancellor came under pressure from the Chinese embassy and asked one of his senior academics not to make political comments on China for a specified time.

The full online article can be found here.