The website of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a leading think tank based in Washington, D.C., was recently blocked in China. There is speculation that this may be related to a recent article published by the think tank that criticized the Chinese Communist Party’s sanctions against European think tanks.
Four researchers from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) published a joint article on its website on March 26 entitled “We Stand with MERICS,” an acronym for the Berlin-based think tank Mercator Institute for China Studies. Studies,” an acronym for the Berlin-based think tank Mercator Institute for China Studies. The Chinese government announced sanctions against the German think tank on March 22 in response to European sanctions against Chinese officials over human rights issues in Xinjiang.
In the article, researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) criticized the government’s actions, saying they “directly undermine the Communist Party’s own claims that it wants to maintain good relations with the West and not interfere in Western politics and society.
The article reads, “(These actions by the CCP) also reflect the increasingly bleak way in which the CCP officially treats international research organizations and scholars concerned with the CCP.”
The article notes that since China opened its doors to academic exchanges in the late 1970s, international exchanges have brought mutual benefits to both sides – “they have deepened mutual understanding between China and the rest of the world and have played a central role in improving social, economic and political relations “.
The article contrasts that while the CCP has also often placed restrictions and obstacles on international academic exchanges in the past, “Beijing has nonetheless been confident in allowing the vast majority of [international scholars critical of CCP policies] to continue their travel and research, largely uninterrupted.” In the past few years, however, “the CCP has gone much further in impeding independent research and constructive academic exchanges.
As an example, the article says, “The CCP has become stricter in granting visas to scholars, especially those engaged in research that could present a negative assessment of the CCP’s claims of good governance. Field research is increasingly risky, even those focused on economics and business, and is not immune. Anecdotal evidence also suggests that foreign experts are being followed or harassed with increased frequency, that Chinese personnel with whom they speak are being interrogated, and that their electronic devices are being monitored or even deliberately damaged.”
In addition to this, the article criticizes Beijing’s unwarranted detention and secret trials of international scholars, as well as its surveillance and interference with research on China outside of China.
According to the article, the escalation of the CCP’s targeting of international academic institutions and scholars in recent years will have a “predictable” negative impact on the CCP, including damaging China’s relations with the West, prompting the West to unite in defense of human rights, damaging China’s reputation, and leading to increased negative publicity about the CCP.
Following the publication of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) article, the think tank’s website was blocked in China.
Scott Kennedy, one of the authors of the article and a senior adviser to CSIS on business and economics in China, told VOA that while he was not sure if the Communist Party’s blocking of CSIS’s website was directly related to the article, the move was “unfortunate.
I think it’s unfortunate that the website was blocked because we are strong advocates of open academic exchange with China,” he said. We regularly host Chinese experts and scholars. We want academic exchanges to be a safe place for experts from both countries to exchange views with each other.”
As a leading U.S. think tank, the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has a long history of interacting with China. The think tank has sent researchers to China hundreds of times, and has also hosted many visits from Chinese experts, scholars, officials and businesspeople for study, exchanges and lectures.
Scott Kennedy believes that think tanks such as CSIS play an important role in both U.S.-China relations and China’s own governance.
I think think think tanks, whether in China, the United States, Europe or elsewhere, should be places for independent inquiry, for exchange, for questioning the status quo, for challenging different perspectives, for open engagement,” he told Voice of America. This is critical for the U.S. and the West to understand China, and for China to understand the rest of the world, and it’s important for improving policy and social governance in China. Many of the findings of think tanks like CSIS and the Brookings Institution have been read and adopted by Chinese scholars and policymakers, and I think this has helped the Chinese government to develop more constructive policies.”
In addition to the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the websites of several U.S. think tanks, including the Wilson Centre and the Brookings Institution, have also been banned in China.
Scott Kennedy told Voice of America that CSIS scholars will continue to seek exchanges with Chinese scholars, “and there’s no reason for that to change.”
In the article, titled “We Stand with MERICS,” CSIS scholars write that if the Chinese Communist Party side wants to challenge the views of international think tanks and experts, it should not do so through means such as visa restrictions or court hearings, but rather through reports, journals, commentaries, podcasts, roundtable discussions and scholarly exchanges at conferences.
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