A former British university minister warned Wednesday (May 12) that self-censorship on China-related issues is the “most important free speech issue” facing British universities.
Lord Jo Johnson, the former minister of state for universities, research and innovation, told a webinar hosted by the Times Higher Education magazine on Wednesday that China’s influence on academic research is “a real threat to free speech.
“I think, for me, the most important free speech issue facing universities today has to do with self-censorship in relation to China,” he said, as quoted by the London Evening Standard.
Johnson believes this will be a very important long-term structural issue.
That’s why it’s so important for universities to have contracts with China, he said, “because they are using a common framework that is established by the industry and supported by their own governments and possibly alliances with other governments around the world.”
“It will give them real freedom of speech and freedom of research in all areas that might involve Chinese interests,” he said.
Johnson made the remarks as the Higher Education (Freedom of Expression) Bill was due to come before Parliament.
He said the bill would serve a very useful purpose if it could help address the self-censorship that exists on issues related to China.
In March, Johnson co-authored a report that said the reliance on the “neo-totalitarian” powers for the financial health and research output of British universities was a “weak point.
The report, co-authored by King’s College London, Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and the Institute for Scientific Information, says higher education exports to China are now the largest single service sector export from the U.K. to any country, while research collaborations have increased from fewer than 100 co-authored papers before 1990 to 16,267 in 2019.
Johnson, who currently holds part-time positions at both Harvard University and King’s College London, told a symposium last March about U.K. research collaborations with China that “we are in a situation where the core values of the academy may be at risk.”
The study said that joint research between British universities and Chinese partners and the rapid increase in the number of Chinese students studying in the United Kingdom have led to a “strategic dependence” on China by British universities, posing many risks.
According to statistics, there are more than one million Chinese students in the UK, accounting for 24 percent of all international students staying in the country.
The UK’s relationship with China has been strained by issues such as Hong Kong and Xinjiang.
Joe Johnson is the brother of Boris Johnson, the current British Prime Minister. He resigned as Secretary of State and a member of the House of Commons of Parliament in September 2019 due to his opposition to fellow Conservative Prime Minister Boris’ proposal for Britain to leave the European Union. From late October 2020, Joe Johnson, who was promoted to baronetcy, enters the upper house of parliament as a Conservative.
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