Global call for care of China expert
Open letter urges NZ Govt to defend academic freedom
Pressure on the Government to take a firmer stand on China, and against apparent criminal harassment of University of Canterbury professor Anne-Marie Brady, has ramped up further after nearly 200 international experts united to say the episode left them “alarmed and appalled”.
A robust open letter published this morning calls on Kiwi authorities to “grant Professor Brady the necessary protection to allow her to continue her research, sending a clear signal to fellow researchers that independent inquiry can be protected in democratic societies and conducted without fear of retribution”.
The letter references extensive Herald reporting on the issue, notably several suspicious burglaries in February of Brady’s home and campus office, and claims last month her car had been sabotaged in response to her work exploring China’s activities in New Zealand.
The 169 signatories comprise a global swathe of academic sinologists, former diplomats and journalists for international news outlets, including Australian public intellectual Clive Hamilton, United States Council on Foreign Relations fellow Elizabeth Economy, and Parisbased Jean-Philippe Beja, a researcher at the elite National Centre for Scientific Research.
Prominent journalists who signed include Jamil Anderlini, the Hong Kong-based Asia editor for the Financial Times, and Jonathan Mirsky, once the Observer’s China correspondent.
Letter organiser Martin Hala, a Prague-based academic who runs the Sinopsis project tracking China’s activity in the Czech Republic, said Brady was widely respected in her field and it was important to express solidarity. “She’s been a towering figure in contemporary Chinese studies, and her research has been groundbreaking,” he said.
Hala said China’s push-back against criticism in Western countries had to date been limited to propaganda and buying influence, and the apparent escalation to criminal harassment was concerning. “This is a worrying trend, and if we don’t raise our voices in support of Anne-Marie, then any one of us could be next.”
Anderlini, who stressed he signed the letter in a personal capacity, has worked overseas for nearly two decades but grew up in Wellington.
“I am a New Zealander and care very much about the future of my country. Professor Brady — one of the most respected sinologists in the world — has raised some very worrying claims in her work,” he said.
He said the contrast between the domestic and international import given to Brady’s groundbreaking “Magic Weapons” paper published last September — which outlined China’s influence activities in New Zealand — was concerning.
“The reaction so far from many in New Zealand has been to dismiss her, to ignore her, and to say ‘It’ll all be okay, mate,’ even as people in other countries take her claims very seriously . . . That’s not good enough.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern’s response to date has been cautious, refusing to comment on the burglaries and car sabotage by saying it was a matter for police, declining to cite China’s influence as a problem for NZ, and issuing only generic support for academic freedom in response to earlier open letters.
The Herald broke news in September that the burglaries of Brady’s home and office now involved the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service, police and Interpol and had stretched on for months. Last month it was revealed Brady’s mechanic suspected her car had been sabotaged, widening the investigation.
Police yesterday said Brady’s car had been inspected and “the police investigation is ongoing”.
Calls for government action have built steadily in recent weeks, with international media beginning to weigh in on the issue and tensions in China-NZ relations rising.
Two weeks ago 29 academics and human rights activists — spearheaded by Amnesty International’s NZ office — wrote to Ardern and Foreign Minister Winston Peters urging action.
Soon after 35 of Brady’s Canterbury uni colleagues co-signed a letter saying they took the apparent criminal harassment “very seriously” and urging the Government to be transparent in its investigation. This week the nations’ political scientists passed a motion at their annual conference in Wellington affirming academic freedom.
The Times of London dedicated a full page in Sunday’s edition to the Brady affair, “a tale of espionage, sabotage and geopolitical intrigue”.
The pressure comes as government agencies and diplomats struggle to balance the trade and security concerns in NZ’s relationship with the rising People’s Republic of China.
Last week the Government Communications and Security Bureau blocked Chinese tech firm Huawei on national security grounds from being involved in upgrading New Zealand’s mobile phone infrastructure.
And Ardern’s office last week confirmed she won’t visit China this year.