Renowned Czech sinologist Olga Lomová recently revealed that Chinese scholars visited her home to inquire about the anti-China (anti-communist) sentiments among the Czech population and the situation in the local sinology community, while also defending the Chinese Communist Party’s policies towards ethnic minorities. Lomová believes that this reflects the Chinese authorities’ efforts to gather relevant information overseas and promote ideological propaganda through academic exchanges.
In a recent article titled “An Unexpected Visitor from China” published on the Czech think tank website “Sinopsis,” Lomová shared that a former Chinese lecturer in the Czech Republic contacted her under the pretext of visiting old acquaintances upon retirement, and brought a student and two scholars from Tongji University in Shanghai to her residence.
These two visitors emphasized that they were not members of the Communist Party of China and quickly shifted the conversation to political issues, inquiring about the anti-China (anti-communist) sentiments among the Czech population and attempting to clarify the Chinese Communist Party’s “ethnic assimilation” policy. Lomová pointed out that the Czech Senate had passed a resolution in March strongly condemning the Chinese Communist Party’s enactment of the “Law on Ethnic Unity and Progress,” which legalizes the forced assimilation of ethnic minorities.
The two scholars also argued that Lomová’s negative views on Chinese (CCP) laws stem from misunderstandings, emphasizing that the laws are only meant to maintain China’s (CCP’s) international image, and that ethnic minorities still enjoy full freedom.
Upon further questioning by Lomová, these two scholars admitted to working at the “Situation and Policy Research Office” of the Marxist School of Tongji University, primarily responsible for teaching the ideological and political core courses mandated by the CCP central committee, with the aim of “enabling students to support the Communist Party of China and understand its line and direction.”
Lomová directly pointed out, “This is a shocking example of how the CCP mobilizes academics to carry out ideological education, even overseas. Sinologists are at the forefront. After all, the visitors also inquired about where in the Czech Republic people are teaching Chinese and requested contact information, claiming to intend to ‘celebrate’ Czech sinology through a book.”
Lomová discovered that one of the accompanying scholars not only serves as the director of the Center for Ideological and Political Education but also works at the “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era Research Center.” In addition, Tongji University received funding from the State Ethnic Affairs Commission in 2024 to establish the “Chinese (CCP) Community Research Base,” integrating disciplines such as architecture, urban planning, and Marxist theory.
She warned that such research projects may superficially involve architecture and the preservation of historical sites but actually aim to eradicate the cultural traditions of ethnic minorities. “The central government of China (CCP) is using architecture and heritage preservation to erase the cultural traditions of non-Han ethnic groups. They believe that when people no longer reside in the spaces they have been accustomed to for centuries and abandon their previous ways of life, they will become loyal subjects of the Communist Party.”
Lomová mentioned that several internationally renowned scholars dedicated to preserving Uyghur culture in Xinjiang have been persecuted by the CCP, such as the prominent Uyghur anthropologist Rahile Dawut, who was arrested in 2018 for documenting Uyghur pilgrimage sites and spiritual heritage and was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2023 on charges of “separatism.” Additionally, the renowned geographer and former president of Xinjiang University, Tashpolat Tiyip, was secretly tried and sentenced to death in 2017.
Lomová urged the international community to increase vigilance and not overlook Beijing’s overseas infiltration methods disguised as academic exchanges, which serve as a means of ideological control and cultural whitewashing.
(Courtesy of Central News Agency)