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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Sally Weale Education correspondent

China-critical UK academics describe ‘extremely heavy’ pressure from Beijing

Sheffield Hallam exterior with logo on the side of a silver building
Sheffield Hallam University ordered a professor to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China. Photograph: Alex Ekins/Alamy

UK academics whose research is critical of China say they have been targeted and their universities subjected to “extremely heavy” pressure from Beijing, prompting calls for a fresh look at the sector’s dependence on tuition fee income from Chinese students.

The academics spoke out after the Guardian revealed this week that Sheffield Hallam University had complied with a demand from Beijing to halt research about human rights abuses in China, which had led to a big project being dropped.

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