Uni lecturer targeted over ‘separate Taiwan’

Uni lecturer angers Chinese students with teaching material suggesting Taiwan and Hong Kong are separate countries.

The teaching material suggesting Taiwan and Hong Kong were separate countries. Picture: Supplied.

A University of Newcastle academic has been targeted by Chinese international students over teaching material which reportedly suggested Taiwan and Hong Kong were separate countries.

The incident comes just days after a University of Sydney IT lecturer was been forced to issue a public apology after international students were outraged by his use of a map showing Chinese claimed territory as part of India.

Now, High Commissioner of India to Australia Dr. Ajay M. Gondane has come forward to urge universities to protect the right to freedom of expression in the wake of the map incident.

The reported incident at the University of Newcastle is the fourth prominent case since May where academic staff or Australian universities have been targeted and their actions or teaching material attacked on Chinese social media.

Earlier this month, an Australian National University lecturer said he had made a “poor decision” after translating a warning about cheating into Mandarin.

In May, Monash University suspended a lecturer and decided to review an entire course after the academic included a question making fun of Chinese officials in a quiz.

At the University of Newcastle, Chinese students reportedly accused the lecturer of calling Taiwan and Hong Kong “countries” in his teaching materials and contacted an Australian Chinese newspaper called Sydney Today to make a complaint.

Sydney Today posted a video which reportedly records an exchange between the teacher and the student.

“You have to consider all the students’ feelings … Chinese students are one third of this classroom, you make us feel uncomfortable … you have to show your respect,” the student is recorded saying.

The lecturer is heard saying: “If you feel offended about it, that is your opinion.”

The report said the university’s Vice Chancellor Professor Caroline McMillen was contacted to “clarify” the university’s position on the status of Hong Kong and Taiwan.

According to a further Chinese language media report in Sydney Today, the Chinese Consulate-General in Sydney contacted the university on Thursday over the matter.

A University of Newcastle spokeswoman ­issued a statement late on Thursday condemning the handling of the complaint by the students.

The university said the material the lecturer presented came from a Transparency International report “which used the term ‘countries’ to describe both countries and territories”.

“The lecturer agreed to discuss the students’ concerns after the lecture and unfortunately this discussion was covertly recorded and then released to the media,” the statement said. “The university is disappointed that there was not an opportunity for the issues raised to be resolved through our normal process in a fair and respectful manner.”

The Australian government does not have a diplomatic relationship with Taiwan and adheres to the “One China policy”, which means it recognises the People’s Republic of China as the ‘‘sole legitimate government of China’’.

Last week, the Wechat account of a Sydney University international students group first posted an article last Wednesday which complained the lecturer, Khimji Vaghjiani, had used a world map which showed that India was in control of territory on the border with China while teaching.

The map used by Mr Vaghjiani showed Arunachal Pradesh, Aksai Chin and Ladakh as part of India, parts of which China claims as its own.

Long-running tension between India and China over their border has risen over recent months in part due to China’s attempt to extend a border road over the Doklam plateau, a thin strip of land bordering both countries and Bhutan.

Students demanded an explanation and the University of Sydney then issued an apology on Mr Vaghjiani’s behalf.

Dr Gondane said freedom of speech should be protected.

“I could only say that we support freedom of expression. These groups should be [promoting] intercultural harmony in the multicultural context in Australia,” he told The Australian.

“It is a free country accepting all sorts of opinions … Those groups displaying [uncivilised] behaviour should restrain themselves.”

Ian Hall, Professor of International Relations at Griffith University, said the case at the University of Sydney was “worrying” as academics might fear if their teaching material was deemed incorrect, they “have to run the gauntlet of student campaigns against them”.

“It suggests to students that if they don’t agree with what is being taught, they can whip up nationalistic fervour on social media and force an apology,” Dr Hall said.

“Australian universities should not tolerate online bullying of academic staff, regardless of how strongly students feel about contested political issues. They have an obligation to stand up not just for academic freedom, for also for creating environments in which different views of sensitive topics can be aired.

The University of Sydney was asked for further comment to clarify whether they supported Mr Vaghjiani’s apology but declined to comment.

The controversy comes after a Sydney Chinese Australian automobile club organised a convoy trip through Sydney displaying nationalistic slogans on August 15 to protest India’s position on the border dispute.

The convoy of luxury cars covered in Chinese flags reportedly passed a number of Sydney iconic destinations before arriving outside the Consulate General of India in Sydney.