Universities face ‘China-watch’ law
Overseas funding of more than £75,000 will have to be declared by institutions under new regulations
UNIVERSITIES will be sanctioned if they allow China to influence what is said on campus, under new laws proposed today by the Education Secretary.
Institutions, including students’ unions, will have to report their financial links to China or be fined under the proposals to make sure freedom of speech against authoritarian regimes is protected.
Nadhim Zahawi said he did not want universities to feel “under pressure” to compromise on academic freedom due to funding from countries such as China.
The Government is introducing amendments to its Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Bill today in order to curb foreign influence on campuses.
These will require overseas funding of £75,000 or more to be declared by universities and students’ unions to ensure “UK values” are not compromised. Institutions will have to reveal all funding they get from specific countries and could face fines and other consequences if there is a risk to freedom of speech or academic freedom.
“We are recognised across the world for our higher education system and collaboration with our international partners is key to this,” said Mr Zahawi.
“There is obviously a balance to be had here and I want our universities to be transparent when it comes to foreign money being invested.
“Our amendment is a proportionate means of addressing the legitimate concerns over the influence of foreign money from countries such as China without reducing the ability of our world-class universities to work with global powers.”
It comes after The Telegraph revealed that British taxpayers could be inadvertently funding research at China’s nuclear weapons programme.
Scientists at Britain’s leading universities – including Cambridge, Edinburgh and Manchester – have published dozens of papers alongside scientists employed by a Chinese institution that is on a US sanctions list due to its research into developing Beijing’s nuclear arsenal.
It followed evidence from MPS that the Chinese government was using its London embassy to curb criticism of the country by limiting academic freedom.
The China Centre, part of Jesus College,
Cambridge, has faced criticised in recent years that it had omitted or included China-friendly coverage of Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Last week, proposals from senior Conservatives including Tom Tugendhat, Sir Iain Duncan Smith and Damian Green called for amendments to be laid to ban Confucius Institutes – Chinese government-funded culture and language centres that have been shut down in countries including the United States and Sweden over concerns they are censoring topics on political grounds.
It is understood that the new powers of the Office for Students will be able to root out the influence of such centres, of which there are 30 in the UK.
“We do not want any university to feel under pressure to compromise on academic freedom or UK values because of donations from certain countries and individuals,” Mr Zahawi said.
“This country has for centuries defended liberal values thanks in great part to the work of our universities, academics and students and we now must ensure we protect this both now and for the generations to come.”
In the US, colleges have been told they could lose federal funding if they took money from China.
The Office for Students, which will collect the information, will also conduct analysis to understand the extent to which foreign money at UK universities has an effect on freedom of speech.
Trusted partners of the UK, such as Nato, the European Union, Japan and Australia, will be exempt from reporting this under schemes that allow foreign students to conduct research on “sensitive technology-related” matters.