Homecoming: ‘China-friendly’ Peter Hoj new University of Adelaide Vice-Chancellor
University of Queensland should have never accepted funding from the Confucius Institute, admits new University of Adelaide VC Peter Hoj.
The University of Queensland should have never accepted course funding from the Confucius Institute, according to incoming University of Adelaide vice-chancellor Peter Hoj.
Professor Hoj, who left UQ last year and was on Tuesday appointed to the Adelaide institution as it recovers from a sexual harassment scandal, said it was obvious relations with China had changed and “we can’t compromise our values”.
Professor Hoj led UQ to financial success on the back of a boom in international students but his tenure was criticised for its close ties with the Chinese government.
Professor Hoj, whose appointment was foreshadowed by The Australian in July, also called for the reinstatement of the international student program, saying universities would be forced to seek another $1bn from the commonwealth if it was not restarted.
In appointing Professor Hoj, the University of Adelaide decided that any concerns over his perceived closeness to Beijing were outweighed by his impressive financial and academic record at UQ and as UniSA vice-chancellor. Professor Hoj said he was not aware UQ had struck a deal with the Beijing-backed Confucius Institute to fund four Chinese cultural and language courses at the university.
“We totally deny that the Confucius Institute were involved in the formulation of the courses, however, it should never have happened,” Professor Hoj told The Australian.
“When you run a university there are lots of things happening in an institution with 6000 people, most of whom are independent thinkers. As soon as we learnt about it we said: never again. It was a stupid thing to do.”
He acknowledged the Morrison government’s alarm over joint research projects between Australian and Chinese universities but denied those concerns had emerged during his time at UQ.
During his time at UQ, the university was criticised for the close relationship between some of its researchers and Beijing-run programs such as the Thousand Talents plan.
But Professor Hoj said UQ’s chancellor, Peter Varghese, the former head of the Department of Foreign Affairs, had “very mature views” of anything that would jeopardise the national interest. He said the reality was that universities — like other parts of the Australian economy — had become involved with China before the relationship had deteriorated.
“The sense that we were in there to favour a certain nation is right in one sense, because that nation is Australia,” he said. “We have never engaged with China or any other nation through a different lens than this one: what is in Australia’s best interest. However, what has happened is that the world has changed very quickly.
“Geopolitically the world has changed. Our relationship with China is seen through a different lens that says we want to engage, but we can’t compromise our values.”
Professor Hoj said the biggest immediate challenge facing universities was financial, warning the sector could not cope if the $40bn international student industry remained closed indefinitely. “If the students don’t come back soon in some shape or form then the government should really think about extending that for another year at least,” the former chairman of the peak universities lobby Group of Eight said.
“For the nation, if we don’t get international students back, we have to decide how we are going to fund the research to diversify our economy. I recognise the incredible difficulty those choices pose to politicians. But if we can bring 1200 people back for a tennis tournament, and seem to be able to manage that observing that many of those people came from parts of the world with incredibly high infection rates, we should be able to also bring back students.”
Professor Hoj’s immediate challenge running the University of Adelaide will be to restore staff morale and student confidence after its reputation was battered last year by the Peter Rathjen scandal. Professor Rathjen quit as vice-chancellor ahead of a corruption investigation report showing he had molested two female staff and had an inappropriate relationship with a third.
Professor Hoj said he would be guided by his experience when he became UQ vice-chancellor after his predecessor Paul Greenfield resigned when it emerged his daughter was enrolled in the medical school without the required marks.
“People don’t so much listen to what you say, they observe what you do,” he said. “We talk a lot about how there are too many old men at the top of organisations and not enough females. It’s because often they don’t get an opportunity to shine. I will never be on a panel where there are only males. And if somebody has really done something wrong, they need to go.”
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