Scottish and other British universities, hit by declining paying students from China, were pivoting to offering joint courses in the country.
“Moving campuses to China and elsewhere in Asia is seen as a way to ease these pressures. It also allows universities to operate from a distance from domestic scrutiny, particularly in relation to sensitive relationships with Chinese universities and the concerns about Beijing’s authoritarian influence, which used to restrict the scope of collaboration within the UK.”
Do leaders at universities know what is going on at their Chinese joint ventures? Do principals and vice-principals have the expertise needed to navigate complex relationships in authoritarian states whose languages they do not speak?
There’s no excuse for university leaders’ ignorance of what happened in their Chinese JEIs, even if they lacked relevant language and other cross-cultural skills.
“I find it difficult to believe that they are entirely unaware. In an era when anyone can enable Google Translate in an internet browser, institutions have the means to monitor the public activity of their collaborators without relying on Mandarin proficiency. There is, however, a consistent reluctance to engage with concerns. The lack of incentives on both sides means any sustained examination of these contentious practices would be pushed aside and a ‘business as usual’ approach takes hold.”
Chris Law, the SNP MP for Dundee Central and an IPAC member: “The scale of CCP involvement in the running of these university outposts is shocking but sadly not surprising. Anyone who is aware of the regular reports from China of transnational repression of foreign nationals, the oppression of minority groups such as Tibetans, Uighurs and Hong Kongers, or the general clampdown on free speech across the country will find the extent of the influence of the CCP on the teaching at these institutions to be right in line with the rest of their actions.”
“Successive UK governments have not taken the long-established warnings from experts and senior officials of the threat posed by the Chinese government to our national security seriously and this has allowed China to step into the vacuum and gain undue influence over our academic institutions.”
Dundee University insisted it carried out due diligence before entering into its deal with Central South University. This, it said, “included the involvement of staff with Chinese-language expertise in Dundee and China and external legal advisers based in Beijing and Scotland”.
It added: “DIICSU is delivered entirely in China and is therefore subject to Chinese law. All first-year students at Chinese higher education institutions, including joint ventures such as DIICSU, are required under national law to undertake military training. This activity is not part of the University of Dundee curriculum and carries no academic credit within the Dundee degree.
“The Chinese-language webpages describing this training are produced and managed by Central South University. The University of Dundee is neither consulted upon nor exercises control over this content.
“The university has previously set out its commitment to academic freedom and open debate through its freedom of expression statement, which was discussed with Central South University prior to approval of the partnership in September 2023 and accepted without objection. These commitments apply to all University of Dundee staff and students.”
Asked to comment about on ideological indoctrination at its Chinese outpost, a spokesman for Glasgow University said: “Our partnership in Hainan combines the strengths of two world-class university systems to provide students with the benefit of a truly global educational experience.”
Aberdeen University previously said it stood by values of freedom of expression but recognised “staff and students at any international campus must operate within the legal framework of the host country”.
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