CHINA
Pressures on Chinese students in the UK
- In November 2019, a Chinese student was photographed in Edinburgh with a sign supporting Hong Kong citizens' demands for free elections. The following day, he was secretly photographed at Edinburgh Airport while escorting his mother to her flight. Both pictures were circulated on Weibo, the Chinese social media site, by someone who believed he was returning to Chengdu, his hometown. The post—entitled 'Brothers from Chengdu, beat him to death'—contained the flight number and a call for him to be arrested by police or assaulted by citizens. It was shared 10,000 times.[1]
- In November 2019, it was reported that the Glasgow CSSA— which acknowledges that "the Chinese embassy is one of the sponsors of our events"—had promoted 'flash mobs' to confront Hong Kong demonstrations. One Hong Kong student who had attended protests in Edinburgh said that "there is Chinese embassy involvement in these demonstrations … They surrounded us in a circle, waving Chinese flags, singing the national anthem and being threatening and hostile." A spokesman for the Chinese consulate in Edinburgh told The Times: "It is totally justifiable and understandable for Chinese students to express their indignation and opposition to words and actions that attempt to split the nation and smear China's image."[2]
- A Hong Kong student at the University of Sheffield reported that he and his friends were surrounded by mainland Chinese students when they were handing out pro-democracy leaflets: "A glass was thrown at one of my friends and one of our flags was broken … We were terrified. In Sheffield there are nearly 4,000 Chinese students and only a few hundred Hong Kong students … It's the fear of what they might do that scares us. We are sure we will be on watch lists when we go home."[3] On another occasion, a film screening by Hong Kong students at Aston University, in Birmingham, was interrupted by mainland Chinese students who attempted to video those attending.[4]
(iv) Think tanks: Intimidation and coercion
- In addition to mainstream Academia, China will also seek to influence think tanks and NGOs in the UK—again with the aim of influencing research agendas, making policy recommendations and influencing the narrative on China.[5] MI5 observed that:
think tanks that people are inserting themselves into, or think tanks which are essentially just ***, that is a methodology that we've seen since time immemorial and we certainly see it nowadays, and ***. So there are bits of the think tank activity that go on that we
- ↑ 'Hong Kong crisis: Beat Edinburgh University student to death, Chinese students told', The Times, 26 November 2019.
- ↑ 'Beijing is backing attacks against us, say Hong Kong students in Scotland', The Times, 28 November 2019.
- ↑ 'Security Services fear the march on universities of Beijing's spies', The Times, 27 October 2019.
- ↑ 'Security Services fear the march on universities of Beijing's spies', The Times, 27 October 2019.
- ↑ We note that MI5 issued an espionage alert on an individual working in think tanks and Academia who was in regular contact with Chinese intelligence officers. ('Joint Address by MI5 and FBI Heads', www.mi5.gov.uk/news/speech-by-mi5-and-fbi, 6 July 2022.)
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