China is threatening the right to education in Australia, says HRW | Australia News

Human Rights Watch has criticized Australian universities for failing to protect the right to education of Chinese democratically educated students, saying many of them have changed their practices and defended themselves to avoid harassment and “slander” by local government officials.

Fresh reports Released Wednesday, HRW said Australian universities – which depend on the fees of foreign students – were “unconcerned with the concerns of harassment and supervision by the Chinese government and its proxies”.

The group questioned 24 students who had promoted democracy from China and Hong Kong, and confirmed three cases that Chinese police had visited or asked to meet with their families in connection with student activities in Australia.

In one case, Chinese authorities threatened to give a student a prison sentence when he opened his Twitter account while studying in Australia and posted democratic messages.

The student told HRW that Chinese police “have contacted my parents … and they warned me and told me to” shut up f ** k up “.

“He said I should shut down my Twitter account, stop spreading anti-government messages and if I did not agree, he could sue me,” the student said. “I deleted my Twitter account. Because I worry about my parents. ”

HRW also said that students living in Beijing, Australia, harass and intimidate those who appear to support democratic movements. One female student is said to have received a threatening message from a classmate at a pro-democracy show in Hong Kong, Australia.

“They’re like, ‘I’m looking at you.’ “I was terrified,” he said. “I had a study with 98 percent of the foreign children. The students ridiculed me for not being honest in this world.”

HRW said any anti-democratic student interviewed for fear of action in Australia could lead to Chinese authorities punishing or questioning their families at home, and said the concerns had affected class decisions, classmates and their choices in education or events.

“I have to test myself,” one mainland student said. “That’s what happened, I came to Australia and I’m not free. I don’t talk about politics here anymore.”

But most of the students did not report the harassment at their university, HRW said, believing their university would not take the risk or fearing that their university would feel sorry for Chinese students living in Beijing alone.

Harassment was not limited to students, according to HRW.

The group says students who follow Beijing and who use the media have harassed some students at Australian universities to harass, intimidate, and send them – to send their information – if the students criticize the China Communist Party or discuss “difficult” issues such as Taiwan, Tibet , Hong Kong or Xinjiang.

In another case last year, Beijing’s allies tortured, tortured and sexually assaulted a student who described Taiwan as their country and spoke out in defense of a Taiwanese student. As a result, HRW said, the Australian university had to temporarily cancel their academic records on the university’s website.

HRW said students from China Studies or known as China Studies also said that they always control themselves when they talk about China. One student was even told that he had been asked by a university official to give a “purified” version of his Chinese Study section.

“When all of our teachings got online, I received an email from the IT leadership, and that they had set up a VPN [virtual private network] entering China, there were some difficulties in terms of teaching, “he told HRW.” Another student, who also teaches a group of China Studies, had already offered ‘sanitized’ courses to PRC students. Is it something I would like to think about on my way? I said, ‘No I don’t want to do this’. ”

All of this, HRW says, comes after the Chinese government struggled to curb the right to education worldwide. He said the Chinese government has begun to take bold action in recent years in an effort to monitor Chinese foreign students and ban academic discussions and academic interviews.

Universities in Australia – where about 40% of foreign students are from China – need to do more to counteract what the Chinese government is doing, says Sophie McNeill, an Australian researcher at HRW.

“Australian university administrators are failing in their mission to protect the rights of Chinese students,” he said. “Australian universities rely on the fees imposed on foreign students, ignoring the concerns of harassment and supervision by the Chinese government and proxies. Universities need to speak up and take action to support the educational rights of these students and their colleagues. ”