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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Eleni Courea Political correspondent

UK academics studying topics sensitive to China face harassment, survey finds

Back view of a lecturer talking to students at a university theatre.
‘Our access to the field is blocked if we write about anything the CCP does not approve of,’ said one academic. Photograph: David Kashakhi/Alamy

Academics and students of Chinese studies in Britain are being subject to harassment, surveillance and pressure to self-censor as they seek to avoid disruption to funding, a survey of universities by a transparency group has concluded.

The findings by UK-China Transparency coincide with new government guidance stating that universities may be breaching rules by having partnerships with foreign governments that require academic staff to pass ideological tests – for example, by hosting Confucius Institutes.

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