Academics tell of 'heavy pressure' from China

UK academics whose research is critical of China say they have been targeted and their universities subjected to “extremely heavy” pressure from Beijing, prompting calls for a fresh look at the sector’s dependence on tuition fee income from Chinese students.

- Sally Weale Education correspondent

They spoke out after the Guardian revealed earlier this week that Sheffield Hallam University had complied with a demand from Beijing to halt research about human rights abuses in China, which led to a major project being dropped.

One UK-based China scholar has since described being the victim of death threats and a smear campaign, while another was sanctioned for her work on human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims and can no longer travel to China to research.

Others described the “soft” or “indirect” pressure brought to bear, which leads academics to self-censor and risk-averse universities to avoid research that may bring them into conflict with China, which controls the flow of students to financially vulnerable UK universities.

In February, Sheffield Hallam University-home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights - ordered one of its leading professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China.