The Australian media have revealed that Chinese students have been attacking universities and complaining about academics through WeChat groups, and the exposed Chinese WeChat group is suspected to be linked to an immigration agency, Monkey King, which one of its shareholders denies. However, the company’s official website posts many successful cases of dealing with “failing courses. (Image from University of Sydney website, screenshot from Monkey King website / date of shooting unknown)
A group called “Sydney International Students Support Association” recently launched a “cyber attack” on WeChat groups, targeting academics at universities in Sydney and New South Wales in an attempt to pressure hundreds of international students to overturn their grades. The organizer behind the attack is suspected to be an organization that provides intermediary services to Chinese students. Local commentators believe that these actions are manipulated by the Chinese Communist Party. Some international students have criticized local universities for compromising their interests and allowing certain individuals to harm academic freedom.
In Australia, Chinese language WeChat groups have recently launched an “Internet offensive” among the Chinese student community, filing organized complaints against university academics and pressuring universities to overturn hundreds of failing grades.
The Weekend Australian reported that the Sydney International Student Help Group (SISHG), which advertises on local Chinese websites that it can help students file complaints to overturn failing grades, has dozens of Chinese WeChat groups targeting the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales (UNSW).
According to the Australian media, the owner of these WeChat groups is associated with “Monkey King,” an Australian study abroad agency. The University of Sydney has been monitoring activities related to Monkey King since last year. A spokesperson for the University said that it will continue to monitor the group and will take appropriate action if necessary. The University of Sydney has also said it has received a number of suspicious signatures complaining about faculty members’ discipline or the process of evaluating assignments.
“A spokesman for Monkey King declined to comment on the incident, but a lawyer for Chenrui Dong, one of the company’s shareholders, told Australian media that the company uses the Sydney International Students’ Association for marketing purposes, but has no knowledge of the organization. The group is not controlled by the company, nor is it run by the company. However, reports indicate that the “Monkey King” watermark has been used as a buoy on promotional material circulating in the Australian Chinese-language group.
Media reports suggest that the WeChat group “Sydney International Students’ Support Group” had attacked an academic critical of Beijing in early August; a month earlier, Elaine Pearson, the Australian director of Human Rights Watch and a part-time law lecturer at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), had said that the group was “not run by the company. (Pearson) wrote an article criticizing Beijing for pushing Hong Kong’s National Security Law. After the University of New South Wales (UNSW) posted the article on its website and tweeted it, a large number of Chinese students protested, accusing UNSW of “blatant interference in China’s internal affairs” and pressured the university to delete the tweet and shut down the online posting.
The post-90s Australian student, who once mocked Xi Jinping on social media and goes by the screen name “Caveman,” said in an interview that many Chinese students in Australia are still in a state of mind after a long period of brainwashing, lacking independent judgment and relying heavily on Chinese WeChat circles, which leaves huge room for overseas manipulation and infiltration by the Chinese Communist Party.
“For example, some embassy personnel, spies planted in student organizations and student unions will enter these communities and infiltrate foreign students, and they will not be influenced by the democratic and free atmosphere of the universities. Further surveillance. This is what happens when international students who support democracy and freedom don’t dare to speak out.
“The Caveman has also criticized some Australian universities for compromising in the face of “mass attacks” by Chinese students in order to earn international student fees.
“The Caveman said: “The Chinese students pressured the universities to make compromises for the sake of their interests, including the withdrawal of an article written by an observer of Human Rights Watch on the destruction of Hong Kong by the Chinese Communist Party, which was published by the University of New South Wales. This compromise is a serious violation of freedom of speech and allows the Communist Party’s infiltration of overseas students.
According to Australian commentator Huangfu Jing, in addition to the quality of Chinese students who have been brainwashed by the CCP for a long time, the violent obstruction of Chinese “pinkies” and the bullying and siege of university teachers are actually controlled by the CCP government.
Against this backdrop, the Chinese embassy has introduced an alternative to the manipulation of students by Chinese united front organizations such as the Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) and other alternative organizations or WeChat communities, which are also a form of protest against the Australian education sector.
Huangfu Jing said: “Little Pink was completely brainwashed by the CCP when they were in China, and when they came overseas, they did not change their values. As long as they do not draw the attention of the security department to the student union, they are all family members and are subject to the unified arrangement and command of the embassy and consulate. It is very stupid for them to protest against Australia this time.
During last year’s anti-law amendment campaign in Hong Kong, Australian students and supporters from Hong Kong launched a solidarity campaign, which was vandalized by Chinese students and subsequently triggered the establishment of the “Foreign Intervention Task Force” by the Australian Ministry of Education and Security in August last year.
The Australian Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS) has commenced an inquiry into national security risks affecting Australia’s higher education and research sectors, under the responsibility of the Minister for Home Affairs, which is due to be completed in July 2021.
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