SYDNEY. — High numbers of Chinese students at Australian universities have created an environment of self-censorship with lecturers avoiding criticism of Beijing and Chinese students staying silent in fear of harassment, Human Rights Watch said.
Some parents in mainland China had been questioned by Chinese police about the activities of students in Australia and Hong Kong police had questioned a returning student about pro-democracy activities, the group said in a report released on Wednesday.
Self-censorship has worsened as universities have adopted online courses during the COVID-19 pandemic, with Chinese students joining class from behind China’s “Great Firewall” system of internet censorship, the group said.
The trend compromised the academic freedom of all students in the class, the report’s author, Sophie McNeill, told Reuters.
“It erodes Australia’s academic freedom,” she said.
In one example, an online course removed references to the bloody Tiananmen Square crackdown in 1989, she said.
Responding to the report, Universities Australia, a peak body for the sector, said universities are committed to academic freedom, and urged “any student or staff member to go straight to their university if they are being coerced or intimidated”.
Australia’s education minister Alan Tudge said the report raised “deeply concerning issues,” and the government would take advice from a parliamentary committee on intelligence and security.
“Any interference on our campuses by foreign entities cannot be tolerated,” he said in a statement.
In response to the report, the Chinese embassy in Canberra said “Human Rights Watch has decayed into a political tool for the West to attack and smear developing countries. It is always biased on China.”
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 40% of all international students in Australia were from China, or 10% of all university students. Almost a third of university sector revenue was generated from international student fees.
Human Rights Watch interviewed 24 students with “pro-democracy” views attending Australian universities, of whom 11 were from mainland China and 13 from Hong Kong. It also interviewed 22 academics.
The rights group verified three cases where family in China had been warned by police over a student’s activity in Australia.
“If you protest against CCP abroad, they will find people you love to make you pay. Even if you are in Australia,” a student not identified in the report told Human Rights Watch, referring to the Chinese Communist Party.
