In retaliation for Australia’s revocation of the visas of two Chinese scholars two weeks ago, Beijing announced a ban on the entry of two Australian scholars into the country, as relations between China and Australia continue to deteriorate. However, the two Australian scholars have indicated that they have no plans to travel to China.
China announced a ban on two “anti-China scholars” entering China, Clive Hamilton, a professor of public ethics at Charles Sturt University, and Alexander Joske, a research fellow at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin’s explanation on Thursday, it was apparently in retaliation for Australia’s revocation of the visas of two Chinese scholars. The Chinese side said that Australia had recently revoked the visas of two Chinese scholars for no apparent reason, citing “national security concerns”. The two Chinese scholars whose visas were revoked by Australia were Chen Hong and Li Jianjun.
Hamilton has published numerous articles and books alleging that China has been hacking to steal information and infiltrate Western countries, including Australia and the United States. Zhou Anlan, on the other hand, published “China National Defense University Tracker: Discovering Military and Security Links in Chinese Universities” in 2019. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said, “China is firmly opposed to any behavior that spreads false information under the guise of academia, deliberately smears and attacks China and endangers China’s national security.”
However, according to Reuters, the two academics were shocked to learn of the news and both said they had no intention of traveling to China because of personal safety concerns. They had no intention of applying for or holding visas to China.
Why would the Chinese issue an entry ban on two scholars who had no intention of going to China, or at least did not apply for visas from the Chinese side? Is it just to satisfy an angry reaction to Australia’s action in suspending two Chinese scholars?
Reuters reports that Hamilton was shocked to learn of the ban, which he sees as retaliation by the Chinese government against Australia, and said he had made the decision two or three years ago not to travel to China because it was too dangerous. Hamilton said: “The ban was quite unexpected, even though I’ve been on Beijing’s blacklist for several years.”
Hamilton hoped that Australia-China relations would improve, but only if China stopped interfering in Australian politics and its bullying behavior.
After learning of the ban, Alan Zhou said that although he had grown up in China and was willing to return there when the time was right, the Chinese government’s actions made him realize years ago that the risks of traveling to China were too high.
Recent Comments