Exclusive: university staff report being pressured to change teaching and are told that Chinese surveillance is rife

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.

  • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
    13·
    6 days ago

    Yeah, both countries are doing awful things. What are you so pissy about? The U.S. foreign policy sucks. So does Chinese foreign policy… I feel like youre pissing into the wind with this argument, and congratulating yourself on how smart you are compared to me. What point are you even trying to make? China has a firewall across their entire internet, I’ve experienced it bcz Ive been there.

    Yes, the U.S. has a police state too. Are we really going to sit here and have a pissing contest about which one is worse? The U.S. is headed toward civil war right now, and is increasingly fascist. I am well aware of all the shitty things the U.S. is doing.

    But, you somehow seem intent on changing the subject to be about something the article isnt even about. I simply pointed out that China is not the good guy here that youre making them out to be.

    • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
      43·
      6 days ago

      Yeah, both countries are doing awful things.

      What westerners describe China doing as “awful” has dramatically improved the quality of life while denying some individuals a degree of political autonomy.

      What westerners describe themselves as doing “just as bad” is the mass slaughter and industrialized slavery of people driven by Western prejudice and greed.

      This is doubly galling when you dig into the history of these countries. The US occupation of Afghanistan right next door to China’s Xinjian Province, marked by over two decades of terror bombings, child sex trafficking, and opium profiteering. To get flushed out of the country by rural religious fundamentalists because you were seen as less tolerable than The Taliban, then stick your head over the fence and say “Uighurs yearn for freedom” is… truly disgusting.

      you somehow seem intent on changing the subject

      Is that just a pre-programmed response? Moving the goalposts and saying “You missed the point”?

      • NocturnalMorning@lemmy.world
        33·
        6 days ago

        Let’s be clear, I didn’t do shit. Acting like Westerners is an all encompassing term to describe what YOU did is disingenuous as fuck. My government has done shitty things, the Chinese government has done shitty things.

        Neither, the Chinese people, nor the American people are the ones perpetuating these shitty ass things. And the fact that you are defending one party rule in china speaks volumes. Get fucked dude, im not having this conversation anymore.

        • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.worldEnglish
          22·
          6 days ago

          Neither, the Chinese people, nor the American people are the ones perpetuating these shitty ass things.

          Who do you think spent 23 years occupying Afghanistan? The Turks? The Filipinos? Who is filling out the ranks of the ICE brigades snatching up toddlers and deporting them to death camps? Who is Johnnie Moore Jr.?

          These are Americans.

          And the fact that you are defending one party rule in china speaks volumes.

          Yeah, god forbid a single party have majority rule, right? Way better to govern like the egalitarian multi-party coalition of checks notes Israel? Hungary? Iraq? How’s Thailand doing right now? Hey, America’s still got two (nominally) distinct parties. Three cheers for liberal democracy!

          Get fucked dude

          How many people have to die to satisfy your ideological fantasies?