【Epoch Times August 5, 2025】 A new report released by the UK think tank “UK-China Insight” (UKCT) on Sunday (August 3) reveals that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has been extensively intervening and harassing China-related studies in British universities from various angles. They exert pressure on Chinese students to monitor their peers, in order to suppress discussions on sensitive issues related to the CCP in classrooms. The CCP also threatens university management in the UK, suppressing academic freedom.
The UKCT report, based on extensive surveys of 50 scholars in the field of China studies in British universities, describes widespread concerns within the academic community about CCP espionage, intimidation, harassment, and self-censorship.
The report highlights a crisis facing China-related studies in the UK, with CCP’s repression and harassment damaging academic freedom and the safety of faculty, staff, and students (especially Chinese students). Surveillance faced by Chinese nationals in the UK is so pervasive that situations seen in China are replicated in the UK.
The report presents disturbing testimonies, including incidents where students confided in interviewed scholars:
– CCP authorities strategically deny visas to scholars engaged in sensitive research, thus undermining their enthusiasm for such studies;
– Scholars face threats, warnings, or harassment from CCP authorities targeting their families in China due to their work in the UK;
– British scholars experience various forms of severe harassment, including online harassment against one scholar, with a visiting scholar from China telling another scholar, “We are monitoring you”;
– Chinese students on China-related research topics reveal that CCP officials demand they monitor their peers;
– Scholars claim that the “Chinese Students and Scholars Association” serves as a tool for CCP surveillance and suppression, with increasing evidence supporting this;
– Researchers of Chinese descent from various nationalities tell scholars they feel uneasy discussing sensitive CCP-related topics in class and are apprehensive about continuing to explore these issues;
– CCP officials use scholars’ work in UK universities and the financial reliance of UK universities on China as reasons to threaten university management;
– University administrators translate threats from CCP into pressure on scholars, sometimes explicitly mentioning the relationship with China’s interests;
– University administrators take action against scholars considered to jeopardize relationships with CCP, including potential demotions;
– Research funding is denied by universities for certain studies that might anger CCP;
– Pressure from CCP on university management led to the recent cancellation of a sensitive research project;
– CCP officials are allowed to visit the Chinese studies courses and offices used by Chinese researchers at universities;
– CCP agents, such as local Chinese community groups, harass students in the UK.
The report finds that the China studies system in British universities is subject to extensive influence, interference, and harassment by the CCP. Strong evidence indicates that these activities of the CCP are the “systemic root of distortion” in the UK’s China studies, affecting the community of experts and their research outcomes. This could further impact information provided to government, media, think tanks, businesses, and other sectors.
The evidence provided in this report suggests that in some cases, university administrators actively participate in suppressing academic freedom, exacerbating this distortion. The report suggests that UK universities seem to be taking these actions primarily due to financial reliance on Chinese student tuition fees. However, the degree of this crisis is not uniform; some institutions appear largely unaffected or continue to provide adequate support to practitioners in China studies.
Among interviewed scholars, 38% believe that university administrators make conducting original investigative research on sensitive issues “more difficult” due to concerns about damaging relationships with the Chinese government, while 46% disagree with this view.
Gregory Lee, Honorary Professor at the University of St Andrews, commented on the report, stating that despite the alarm sounding for years, the government, especially universities financially reliant on Chinese student fees, have largely ignored and evaded the breadth and depth of this problem.
Lee warned UK universities overly reliant on Chinese funds that this dependence has always been a “bad strategy” economically. How many banks would lend to a company overly reliant on a single income source? Just one politically motivated interruption could severely impact these universities reliant on Chinese funding.
“UKCT should be praised for this timely warning report. It is hoped that this report will be widely and clearly disseminated,” Lee said.
This report is released as a new law takes effect in the UK. This law requires universities to take on more responsibility in upholding academic and free speech freedoms.
The UK university regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), underscores that freedom of speech and academic freedom are “fundamental elements” of higher education.
OfS states that universities may face fines in the millions if they fail to fulfill these obligations.
On July 30, the UK Parliament’s Joint Committee on Human Rights (JCHR) also issued a landmark report urging the government to develop clear strategies to combat transnational repressive threats from countries like the CCP.