Writing for UnHerd, Austin Williams unpacks the myth that Britain’s campus free speech crisis is a nefarious Chinese plot. Williams begins by exploring the claims that British universities are under the thumb of the Chinese Communist Party.
“Is it true that British universities are in hock to the Chinese Communist Party? Some have suggested as much after Labour’s decision to dump the Higher Education (Freedom of Speech) Act. Lord Alton certainly thinks so, posting on X: “Surrendering the principle of free speech to buy favour with the CCP is a terrible indictment of some of our universities & Government.”
Williams continues, “The answer is, simultaneously, yes and no. UK vice chancellors are clearly guilty of doing anything to get their hands on Chinese money, whether from students or investors. They are quite happy to build campuses overseas and are nervous about anything that might jeopardise that financial lifeline. But we shouldn’t blame China and the CCP’s influence for this free speech U-turn. Really, it’s a homegrown problem.
“When Associate Professor at University College London Michelle Shipworth was effectively banned for teaching a module that scrutinised uncomfortable data about China, she exemplified the problem that university lecturers sometimes face: how to teach awkward facts, in context, without fear or favour. But in many universities, the administration and leadership’s role is different. They need to pussyfoot around students, pander to their satisfaction ratings, and increase pass percentages in order to attract more consumers.
“But the official indulgence of all students — not just Chinese ones — has led to a strange culture of suspicion in universities. In the past, lecturers sought among their new cohort the keen students who might excel. Now they can’t help looking for the ones who might complain. Sadly, it is often fellow academics and administrators who are the complainants, reporting colleagues for “unacceptable” words and content, worried that difficult lecturers will jeopardise the university’s ranking.
Williams concludes, “Meanwhile, for years now Chinese undergraduates have been excited to be part of an outreach programme that gives them the opportunity to escape authoritarianism and transfer to a freedom-loving British university. On arrival, many have found that the West’s much-vaunted educational excellence was in short supply. Others, not necessarily just Party apparatchiks, enjoyed their new-found liberty to chastise Western intellectual authority.
“The Chinese Government has weighed up the pros and cons of doing business with British universities. On balance, it is pleased that Chinese youths are returning from the UK not indoctrinated in the ways of freedom and liberty but instead cognisant of new techniques of intellectual restraint and subject suppression. They have discovered that the British Government unilaterally undermines free speech. What a tragic lesson to learn.”
Worth reading in full.
While we may debate the cause, it is increasingly clear that academics are facing mounting pressure to censor their views regarding China. As Williams mentions, UCL academic Michelle Shipworth was banned from teaching a “provocative” course involving China to protect the university’s commercial interests.
FSU Director Dr Ben Jones spoke to Michelle about her ordeal, and the shocking extent to which UCL has now curtailed her academic freedom – the full interview is available below.
