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Students at British university campuses in China must swear allegiance to the Chinese Communist Party [CCP], a report has found.
At least 45 universities in the UK have lucrative partnerships with Chinese academic institutions to teach and award British degrees under a scheme called Joint Educational Institutes (JEIs).
The China Strategic Risks Institute (CSRI), a think tank, has analysed policy documents and university publications to reveal “large-scale Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ideological control” over these British overseas outposts.
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The findings raise fresh questions on Chinese influence over British universities and the risks this poses to academic freedom, amid a crisis in the UK government over designating Beijing a threat to national security.
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Students enrolled at the JEI campuses are, in theory, treated the same as home-taught students and subject to the same UK regulatory obligations.
However, thousands of undergraduates at some of the outposts have been required to take part in state-backed ceremonies, during which they are told to serve the “motherland” by pledging their unwavering support to the CCP.
The report claims these activities form part of “indoctrination campaigns”, which are presented as extracurricular activities.
The Xi’an Jiaotong Liverpool University, which was founded nearly 20 years ago, convened nearly 1,000 students for a flag-raising ceremony in 2021 to mark the 100th anniversary of the party’s creation.
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Details of the event were posted in Mandarin on the institution’s website, with images showing students standing behind uniformed guards as they hoist China’s flag. The university’s president, who is also a party secretary, told students in a speech they must have “strong patriotism” and “love their great motherland” and always “resolutely listen to the party and follow the party”.
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In a programme co-organised by the Dundee International Institute of Central South University, hundreds of students took part in a military-style ceremony in 2022 during which they “pledged their allegiance to the party with concrete actions”.
More than 1,000 students, many in soldiers’ uniforms, gathered in a sports arena, using their bodies to form a large CCP hammer and sickle emblem which changed colour.
“Rest assured, the party will make our country strong,” the university’s website said in a press release about the occasion, adding that the entire faculty and students sang the national anthem and saluted.
In 2023, staff and students at Southampton Ocean Engineering Joint Institute, based in Harbin, China, were photographed raising their fists towards the Chinese flag during a trip to a museum in honour of President Xi’s previous visit, according to the report.
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At least 12 employees at the Queen Mary school were identified by the CSRI as having jobs related to CCP work, including seven who were said to be responsible for the “ideological education” and “value guidance” of the students.
The two universities are among several in the UK which have reported significant financial income from their campuses in China, with the University of Nottingham generating £9.55 million in 2023 and Queen Mary University of London generating £16.57 million.
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Daily reminder that The Times is owned by Rupert Murdoch.
This is the same guy that attempted to blackmail John Major:
https://www.channel4.com/news/major-denies-sun-editor-abused-him-after-black-wednesday
This is the same guy that hired thugs to go after Gordon Brown:
https://www.politico.com/news/stories/0711/58767_Page2.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gordon-brown-murdoch-paper-employed-criminals/
This is the same guy that created this headline a few days before the Brexit referendum:
They should expand this to the campuses in the home Islands as well
This is so hilarious OMFG china bad lol
Kiss the Israeli flag yeah that’s ok. We support actual genocide not some commie bullshit
So a British university in China follows and respects Chinese traditions/ ceremonies /laws and they’re called bad/evil.
But If there was a Chinese university over here and they refused to follow British traditions and ceremonies and laws they would be kicked out.
There’s a debate to be had whether the universities should be there or not, but we demand foreigners to respect our culture and traditions so why shouldn’t we have to do the same there.
The right wing media in the UK have really been going off on China recently but this is scraping the bottom of the barrel
So a British university in China follows and respects Chinese traditions/ ceremonies /laws and they’re called bad/evil.
I’m assuming the students aren’t Chinese due to the wording of “having to follow the same rules as homegrown students”, so yes forcing non Chinese people to pledge allegence to the political party and attend parades is bad, whether it’s tradition or not. It’s just weird.
It would be equally bad if we forced foreign students to participate in our traditions (whatever they are), especially making them pledge allegence to a political party.
But If there was a Chinese university over here and they refused to follow British traditions and ceremonies and laws they would be kicked out.
No they wouldn’t, they’d turn a blind eye and keep accepting money.
If that were the case, it’ll explicitly say. I think they are distinguishing these universities as not “home-grown” because they are being run by British institutions. Also I don’t know how many British people would go to a British university in China.
Generally China doesn’t do this with foreigners- although you would still be expected to stand for a country’s national anthem as you would for any, but not necessarily sing it. Teachers possibly are required not to engage in politics.
Also, the hammer and sickle thing could have easily been a communist youth-league thing.
I remember people criticising Churches in China for displaying the Chinese flag and observing national commemorations when churches (especially our state church) here do the exact same thing, and literally say “God save the King” during some liturgies
Uk pledged alligance to Israel so why not china too
This isn’t anything strange in China. Basically any group of people are generally encouraged to show patriotism. It may be a bit concerning if they were expecting overseas students there to pledge allegiances, but I don’t believe that’s the case.
Also doesn’t the USA require it’s kids pledge allegiance to the flag? I think it’s strange that the United Kingdom doesn’t do this unless you’re getting a job such as police, military, judge, etc where you have to pledge allegiance to His Majesty the King.
The USA and China are outliers when it comes to requiring public displays of loyalty to the state, this isn’t normal behaviour and shouldn’t be encouraged.
I’ve never seen it, but my former French teacher said that when they watch football games in France, it’s expected to stand up and sing along to the Marseillaise with a hand on your heart.
And in Germany, it wasn’t uncommon to play the national anthem in a disco at midnight.
Every nation on the planet demands patriotism. Some nations are just less subtle about it than others.
Please don’t conflate singing a national anthem with forcing children to swear allegiance to the state.
Yeah as an American fuck that shit, don’t do a we do please.
Why not?
Done daily, done to children, part of the education framework, for a lot of teachers is not optional… This just on the top of my head
When and where do you think people learn their respective national anthems?
For me: I think it was in third grade…
For me, at least in Italy, I think it was the third or fourth? But once we learned, we never had to sing it again. My kids in the US high school are still saying the pledge of allegiance to this day
In the US children are not forced, save for social coercion/encouragement, if you’re wanting to split hairs.
Kids are absolutely forced all the time.
But are they? I know they also do the same in Türkiye. If we are that dedicated we could research a list, another commenter mentioned in Germany discos play the anthem at the end. The UK used to have it play at the end of TV broadcasting and in cinemas. Now it’s relegated to 1am on one BBC radio station.
this isn’t normal behaviour and shouldn’t be encouraged.
By what standard and authority? Your white culture? You may be accidentally straying into white supremacist territory, here.
By what standard and authority? Your white culture? You may be accidentally straying into white supremacist territory, here.
My eyeballs just rolled so hard they did a full 360.
You remember one of the states that does loyalty pledges is the US, right?
But another one represents most of the asians on earth
So? It remains a ridiculous statement in context.
Not really. Do you have any infallible moral basis for this claim?
I’m not jumping through hoops for someone who believes something as stupid as criticizing loyalty pledges to the state is racist.
Do you also think it’s anti-British bigotry to criticize the concept of monarchy?
Please don’t conflate playing a national anthem with forcing children to swear loyalty to the state
Articles like this typically do that.
