New college at Oxford University, England.
Oxford University, will rename a prestigious professorship in physics after a Chinese software company, Tencent, which is alleged to have close ties to the Chinese Communist regime’s intelligence services, in exchange for a £700,000 donation. British media said, “This is outrageous.”
The Daily Mail reported on Feb. 9 that according to sources at Oxford University, the Wykeham Professorship of Physics (a prestigious faculty title), established in 1900 with a 14th-century New College award, will now be known as “Tencent-Wykeham”. Professor Tencent-Wykeham”, in honor of the technology group.
On the evening of the 8th, two former cabinet ministers urged Oxford to reconsider, a decision that has apparently put the university at odds with its own most senior officials.
Lord Patten, Oxford’s chancellor and Britain’s last governor in Hong Kong, said he could not comment on the Tencent grant because he knew nothing about it until he was contacted by the Daily Mail.
But he added, “I am very much in favor of the proposal for a full investigation into the relationship between the Chinese Communist state and all our universities.”
“Given that China has become a surveillance state, has probably committed genocide against the Uighurs in Xinjiang, and is stifling freedom in Hong Kong, we should look very seriously at these relationships.”
“I have no doubt at all that there are serious strategic and security issues at stake, because the Chinese communist state is a threat to free democracies around the world.”
U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) sources say Tencent was founded with funding and support from the Chinese Communist Party‘s main intelligence agency, the Ministry of State Security. A Pentagon report last month said Tencent has been working closely with the Chinese Communist Party’s security agencies on artificial intelligence.
Tencent owns WeChat, which is popular with millions of Chinese immigrants who keep in touch with their hometowns.
In an executive order last year, then-President Trump said WeChat represented a security threat because it collected “vast swaths” of data on Americans and other users and allowed “the Chinese Communist Party to create a mechanism to spy on what may be the first ever free society to enjoy the benefits of Chinese citizens”.
The executive order says: “WeChat, like TikTok (the overseas version of Jitterbug), reportedly censors content that the CCP considers politically sensitive and may also be used for disinformation campaigns that benefit the CCP.”
But Tencent denied receiving intelligence funding, saying its finances were “transparent.” It has rejected allegations of wrongdoing.
Ge Ling, Tencent’s chief representative in Europe, is an expert in quantum computing research and holds a Ph.D. in the field from Oxford University, and she declined to comment on why her company was sponsoring the professorship at Oxford on the night of the 8th. It is not known if she was involved in the negotiations for the grant.
Former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, who urged Oxford to reconsider its decision on the night of the 8th, said, “There seems to be no bottom line on the extent to which universities will bend the knee to the Chinese Communist Party for money. The reality is that Chinese companies have an obligation to pass on information to the Chinese Communist security agencies on demand, and it is grotesque for Oxford to celebrate Tencent (name) by renaming this professorship.”
David Davis, the former British Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, added: “In my view, this is a very unwise decision.” Sir Richard Dearlove, the former head of MI6, said he was surprised that Oxford had agreed to rename a prestigious chair for just £700,000.
He said, “The usual price tag for something like this is in the millions. Having a foothold in Oxford’s physics department is clearly of strategic interest to the Chinese Communist government, and we should be very wary indeed of this kind of investment.”
Tencent, which now has a global presence, was founded in 1998 by four entrepreneurs in an industrial area of Shenzhen, across the river from Hong Kong. It has grown to become the world’s largest computer gaming platform. As well as WeChat, it has a huge presence in social media and online shopping, worth about £500 billion.
The revelation of Tencent’s links to Oxford University comes amid growing concern about the Communist Party’s infiltration of British universities.
A Daily Mail investigation last year highlighted how China’s “cooperation” often smacks of infiltration. And on the 8th, the think tank Civitas highlighted in a scathing report how British universities are “inadvertently” supporting Beijing‘s military arsenal through research projects.
And The Times reported that as many as 200 British academics face an official investigation into whether they inadvertently helped the Chinese Communist Party’s militarization efforts.
Tencent did not respond to the Daily Mail’s request for comment on the night of 8.
Sam Armstrong, a China expert at the Henry Jackson Society, a think tank, said, “There is a clear risk of reputational damage in accepting this donation and renaming a chair.”
But there are also security risks associated with building relationships with Chinese communist state enterprises in fields like physics. Even ostensibly theoretical research could one day turn out to be the key to new technologies with huge practical applications.
An Oxford spokesperson said, “Oxford has a rigorous due diligence process in place and Tencent has been approved as a suitable donor by our independent Endowment Review Committee, which includes independent external representatives.”
“We have a very clear position on academic independence from endowment, and our donors, have no say in the development of the research and teaching programs for the positions they fund. Our donors, too, have no say in setting the research and teaching programs for the positions they fund, nor do they have access to any research results beyond publicly available materials.”
A Priceless Legacy
According to the history described in the Daily Mail, “No manners without knowing them” was the motto of William of Wykeham, and it became the motto of the two great educational institutions he founded.
When the politically astute Wykeham’s career brought him great wealth, he used it to found New College, Oxford, in 1379, and Winchester College in 1382, which was originally intended for boys from New College.
He was born in Hampshire in 1324 and, from humble beginnings, twice became Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor – the highest political office of his day – during the reigns of Edward III and Richard II.
At the Time of Wickham’s death in 1404, he was one of the richest men in England. Historians say his motto was a fundamental advance for his time, measuring people not by their background but by their personal qualities.
The University of Oxford has three statutory professorships named after “Professor Wickham”: logic (established in 1859), ancient history (1910) and physics (1900).
Past holders of this prestigious position in physics include Sir Rudolf Ernst Peierls, who played an important role in the Manhattan Project, which developed the atomic bomb.
The position was most recently held by David Sherrington, who was acclaimed for his work in condensed matter physics.
Recent Comments