The foreign affairs select committee plans to examine the Chinese government’s interference in academia as part of Beijing’s inquiry process.
MPs are broadening the scope of their investigation into the China audit, an internal government review of UK-China relations that concluded in June, to look into Chinese state influence at British universities.
Ministers are under pressure to take a tougher approach after the Guardian revealed that Sheffield Hallam University had exposed work on a human rights record in China.
Sheffield Hallam has sacked one of its most famous professors, Laura Murphy, from continuing her work on China-related chains, after years of pressure from the Chinese government.
Murphy’s work on Murphy’s Uyghs, a persecuted Muslim Minority in China, selected for forced labor programs. The Chinese government has rejected accusations of forced labor, claiming Uyghur work programs for poverty alleviation.
In October, Sheffield Hallam lifted the ban, and apologized to Murphy. But the case has caused widespread alarm about the influence of the Chinese government on UK universities, both in terms of specific threats and fears of losing international students.
Emily Thornberry, the chair of the foreign affairs select Committee, said: “From what we heard, the interference of the Chinese government. We need to check your universities.
Last week, Sheffield Hallam’s university and college union (UCU) and UCUTE’s National Executive Committee called for a “full public inquiry” into the events at Sheffield Hallam. The motions also called for a Government review of the ways in which commercial considerations have eroded academic discourse.
Similar motives are expected to be tabl in the regional branches in the region in the coming weeks.
Bob Jeffrey, a branch officer for Sheffield Hallam Uc, said: “Laura’s case really has members at UCU. UK academics have spoken of the “reinforcing poison” of pressure from Beijing to end the revelations about Sheffield Hallam.
Internal emails from Sheffield Hallam revealed that Murphy’s work and Churnect’s business interests in China were considered “unreasonable bedfellows”. The university said the emails did not represent university policy and that the decision to block Murphy’s research was not based on commercial interests.
Indeed, Sheffield Hallam referred counter-terrorism police over concerns that it was helping a foreign intelligence service, in this case China, when clocking Murphy’s research.
Staff at Sheffield Hallam went on strike on Tuesday in response to concerns about job cuts and the university’s handling of Murphy’s case.
Joary, the general secretary of UCU, said: “It is incredibly worrying that Sheffield Hallam appears to be seeking to silence its own professor on behalf of a foreign government”.
There has been growing concern over the years that the High Sector’s reliance on raising International Student Fees from China is too easy for universities.
After the newsletter promotion
There will be around 150,000 Chinese students in the UK in the 2023/24 academic year. They pay billions in tuition fees, which many universities see as economic lifeblood.
Collaboration with Chinese students is also seen as beneficial to the UK’s own research output, particularly in the fields of science and technology, although some warn of the risks of joint research projects.
In 2023, the parliamentary intelligence and Security Committee Warned That China can gain political influence and economic advantages in the UK by “suppressing the narrative of the debate about China within UK universities” by influencing academics and Chinese students.
The UK ranks at top of a list In the countries affected by the influence of the Chinese government in the Academia in China Index, a project by Doubphink Lab influence in the outside world.
Beijing responded to reports about Sheffield Hallam, with an article on State-Run Scholars with anti-China sentiments, not the right to conduct free research”.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy said: “China firmly opposes the activities of any institution or individual to slander lies and spread lies.
“The individual concerned has herself admitted to the media that she received funding and support from US government agencies and other sources to conduct this so-called ‘research’, which specifically aims at attacking China’s Xinjiang policies. It is evident that what she is doing is part of the disgraceful political campaign of defaming China under the disguise of ‘academic freedom’ or ‘freedom of speech’.”
Additional Research By Lillian Yang