Friday , March 29 2024

British Universities are Severely Compromised by Links with China

The Russell Group of top UK universities released a document in 2018 that detailed how the UK has now moved ahead of Japan to become the second most popular partner for Chinese researchers after the US.  China is a National Socialist State (See National Socialism with Chinese Characteristics) yet British universities boast of their dependence on Chinese finance.

British academics largely regard China as a sort of Communist wonderland where the Left is demonstrating its full potential but China is certainly not a Marxist State.  When you talk to the Chinese in China their main concern is high school fees for all children up to the age of 18 and crippling medical costs.  If you say that these things are free in the UK they look at you as if you must be lying.  I had a delightful conversation with a Chinese graduate who said “surely that means that England is the communist country”.   China has all the social benefits of the least socially generous countries in the West (see Note 1).  Where it differs from the West is that the governing class are absolutely determined to stay in power.

The zeitgeist in China has very strong parallels with the atmosphere of mid-late 1930s Germany.  The country is working frantically towards acquiring the power for the next step in National Socialism. This next step is, as it was in Germany, having the power for China to dominate global politics.

The rise of China has been carefully planned.  The first step was to obtain Western levels of development, this began with the 863 Program and progressed to the Thousand Talents Plan and other “talent plans”, this now involves the encouragement of hundreds of thousands of Chinese students to attend Western Universities to acquire technology and skills.  Over 120,000 Chinese students are enrolled in UK universities. China has awarded seven thousand highly remunerative “1000 Talent Plan professorships” to the academics who have been most successful overseas*.

The 120,000 students from China who study at UK universities are monitored by the Chinese embassy and some universities have installed Confuscius Institutes that help with control and spying. There are 29 Confuscius Institutes in the UK.   (See Alarming meddling at UK universities exposed in report).

China has been running overseas spying and surveillance operations through the bizarrely named United Front Work Department which runs the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries.  (See The Chinese Influence Effort Hiding in Plain Sight).  The United Front also organises demonstrations in the West using the huge population of Chinese students.  Whenever Chinese people demonstrate in favour of Hong Kong, Taiwan etc. there is always a willing band of United Front stooges to counter demonstrate.

China is using ID politics to deflect concerns about the very real threat that students from China pose to national security. US Academics condemn racial profiling.

Of course UK academics actually know that China doesn’t love them.  It is all “cupboard love”.  Once the Chinese C9 universities (China’s Ivy League) are near to the standards of their Western equivalents all the money from China and its students will dry up.  These knowing academics are reminiscent of thieves who have discovered a treasure trove and are busy selling it off as fast as possible before the authorities catch them out.  When they are finally caught they will plead “but nobody told us we were doing anything wrong”.

Russell Group: Links between China and Russell Group Universities

The reason that the problem with China is still not public property is that the broadcast media in the UK are puzzlingly pro-China and suppress almost anything that embarrasses the Chinese (See for instance We need to talk about China and Strong evidence that COVID-19 is a lab escape).

President for Life Xi Jinping said: “Universities and colleges would be the “stronghold of the party’s leadership” …Tertiary educational institutes were responsible for educating the next generation of communist leaders, and they should “firmly uphold the correct political direction” Xi calls for more thought control on China’s campuses. South China Morning Post

* See China’s Talent Recruitment Plans – Senate Homeland Security

Note 1: Despite being a fairly prosperous country working conditions in China are appalling (see The Barracks Are Cast of Iron: Working in a Chinese foam factory.  China’s social security system is contributory, consisting of 5 mandatory insurance schemes (pension fund, medical insurance, industrial injury insurance, unemployment insurance, and maternity insurance) + a housing fund. The top rate of tax in China is 45% which is payable on incomes over about £8000 per year.  China is fairly close to the USA for taxes, benefits and other financial factors that affect ordinary households.

It is comical that the United Front Work Department has responsibility for relations with other “communist” regimes given the lack of Marxism in China.

This post was originally published by the author on his personal blog: https://pol-check.blogspot.com/2020/05/british-universities-are-severely.html

About John Sydenham

Dr John Sydenham has worked in International Pharmaceuticals and for one of the "big four" International Consultancies. He ran a successful company for 15 years and after selling the company devotes his time to travel, science, black labradors and freedom.

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