Lecturers at UK universities are self-censoring to avoid offending Chinese students


Lecturers have admitted to self-censoring when discussing China amid fears their students will take offence.

Academics from across UK universities said their teaching was influenced by having pupils from the authoritarian state in class.

A majority warned academic freedom and their right to teach openly was under threat in higher education.

It comes as the number of Chinese students applying for places in Britain has skyrocketed in recent years – from 6,900 in 2013 to 28,930 this year.

So many candidates are competing from the Far East that they now outnumber those from Wales.

There has been a 12 per cent increase in applicants from China, to 28,930 - up from 26,000 last year and 6,900 in 2013 (file photo)

There has been a 12 per cent increase in applicants from China, to 28,930 – up from 26,000 last year and 6,900 in 2013 (file photo)

Surge in Chinese demand for British universities: Record 28,000 students from China apply to study in the UK with applicants now outnumbering those from WALES 

The number of students from China applying to study in the UK have outnumbered those applying from Wales, according to Ucas figures.

There has been a 12 per cent increase in applicants from China, to 28,930 – up from 26,000 last year and 6,900 in 2013.

It makes China the second largest overseas market for British universities after the European Union.

Meanwhile, there were 12,660 applications from 18-year-old prospective students in Wales. 

Elsewhere, a record number of disadvantaged British students applied this year, as 28 per cent of the poorest 18-year-olds hope to get their degree.

The number of EU applicants has fallen, meaning the overall number of prospective students should be the same as last year.  

Nigeria brought the largest rise, with applications up 47 per cent to 2,380, reported the Times.

The findings were detailed in a new report by academics from Oxford, Exeter and Portsmouth universities published in the International Journal of Human Rights.

It spoke to 1,500 lecturers from the social sciences departments of institutions across the country.

Forty-four per cent of those who replied said they had self-censored their online classes, but 34 per cent said they did not.

Two thirds said they felt academic freedom was at risk and over two fifths felt their ability to select what they teach was in peril.

Just under three fifths said their students’ backgrounds did not influence their work while nearly a quarter admitted it did.

Meanwhile 10 per cent reported that they felt obliged to work with non-democratic partners after Brexit – but three fifths did not.

Around 14 per cent said they had self-censored their research, with 75 per cent saying they had not.

Yet for lecturers whose work focuses on China more than a fifth had restricted their work whereas it was more than 25 per cent in African studies.

Just 19 per cent of academics said they had done so when undertaking European studies.

A staggering 60 per cent of those working at UK universities said they thought their freedom to teach freely was at risk.

The threat to academic freedom saw one Russell Group university professor apologise for supposedly causing offence to a Chinese student.

Speaking about VAT regimes, the academic mentioned changes in China to its system, the Times reports.

But at a seminar a week later, the lecturer said: ‘I got the feeling that my comments about Chinese constitutional law were not entirely well taken by some people. I certainly did not mean any disrespect by it.’

Overall, the number of applications for full-time undergraduate courses set to begin in September fell by one per cent (file photo)

Overall, the number of applications for full-time undergraduate courses set to begin in September fell by one per cent (file photo)

A student told the newspaper: ‘I was struck by how difficult it was for anyone to discuss China without causing offence. I suddenly felt discouraged, if not afraid, to mention the country in any way.’

Last week it was revealed the number of students from China applying to study in the UK outnumbered those applying from Wales.

There has been a 12 per cent increase in applicants from China, to 28,930 – up from 26,000 last year and 6,900 in 2013, Ucas figures found.

It makes China the second largest overseas market for British universities after the European Union.

Meanwhile, there were 12,660 applications from 18-year-old prospective students in Wales.

Elsewhere, a record number of disadvantaged British students applied this year, as 28 per cent of the poorest 18-year-olds hope to get their degree.

The number of EU applicants has fallen, meaning the overall number of prospective students should be the same as last year.

Nigeria brought the largest rise, with applications up 47 per cent to 2,380, reported the Times.

The report’s authors found self-censoring had become more prevalent during the pandemic due to online teaching.

Oxford University’s Dr Tena Prelec, who worked on the paper, said certain departments were more likely than others to self-censor.

She said: ‘Concern among academics in politics and international relations could be higher because they are more exposed to sensitivities when teaching students from and conducting research in autocracies.

‘Alongside business and law, these departments have often expanded most rapidly for domestic and international students, perhaps creating an impression among staff that market demand trumps the maintenance of standards and academic freedom.’

Toby Young, General Secretary of the Free Speech Union, said: ‘The people who deny there’s a free speech crisis in British universities often point to the fact that only a handful of academics are no-platformed each year.

‘But that’s the tip of the iceberg. As George Orwell pointed out in the introduction to Animal Farm, the most ubiquitous form of censorship is self-censorship and we know from surveys and polls that a huge number of academics are self-censoring.’

Leave a Reply