Exclusive: University staff report facing pressure to change teaching and are told that Chinese surveillance is rife
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.
