China spies report on dissidents in Aussie universities

Students from Hong Kong and China are being watched by classmates in Australian universities with information being fed to the Chinese ­Communist Party, an inquiry reveals.

Chinese students in Australian universities are being monitored and reported on by classmates feeding information to the Chinese ­Communist Party, a federal government inquiry has heard.

In a submission to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security’s inquiry on foreign interference in the university sector, Human Rights Watch said it was aware of disturbing cases of students from China and Hong Kong being targeted in Australia.

The students were targeted because they made comments that were critical of China in class or online while studying in Australia.

“Knowledge about these ­incidents then quickly circulated through the community, spreading fear and self-censorship,” the submission stated.

One law student from the University of New South Wales told Human Rights Watch, “If you protest against the CCP abroad, they will find people you love and hurt them to make you pay.”

Discussion topics on popular app WeChat are monitored closely by Chinese authorities. Picture: Getty Images

According to the submission, pressure from the CCP comes in numerous ways.

Discussion topics on popular app WeChat are monitored closely by Chinese authorities.

Students from China are put under surveillance and those who take part in protests that Chinese officials believe are “sensitive” are threatened.

Students in Australia have raised concerns with Human Rights Watch about the Chinese Students and Scholars Association and that group’s alleged links to the Chinese embassy and consulates.

Concerns have also been ­reported about a Tiananmen Square commemoration event in Perth being monitored and filmed by Chinese diplomats in June last year.

“Human Rights Watch believes that institutions of higher learning around the world should resist the Chinese government’s efforts to undermine academic freedom abroad,” the submission stated.

“Yet, many Australian universities remain unprepared to address these threats in any systematic way.

“Therefore, this submission and our recent research concentrates on failures by Australian universities to uphold academic freedom for Chinese- speaking students and China-focused scholars.”

Last month, Australia’s top universities fired a warning that partnerships with Chinese institutions could come under threat if the federal government was not careful with its foreign-interference measures.

In their submission, the eight universities including the University of Melbourne said they carried out more research with the European Union (34 per cent), the US (23 per cent) and the UK (17 per cent), than with China (13 per cent).

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