UTAS ‘not worried’ about China’s health warning to students heading abroad

China’s Ministry of Education has warned students to be cautious about studying in Australia due to racism and coronavirus risks, as it’s revealed how much money our economy risks losing if UTAS international enrolments drop.

TASMANIA’S economy faces a multimillion-dollar hit if Chinese students heed Beijing’s warning to rethink studying in Australia.

About a third of the 14,000 international who studied in Tassie last year were from China, with international students as a whole injecting $618 million into the state’s economy.

But the University of Tasmania has brushed off a warning from China’s Ministry of Education on Monday for students to be cautious about studying in Australia due to racism and the threat of coronavirus, which it called the “global pneumonia outbreak”.

“There are, at times, complexities in the relationships between the Australian and Chinese governments but, over the years, this has not had a material impact on Chinese students coming to Australia,” vice-chancellor Rufus Black said.

“This is another of those times.”

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Vice Chancellor of UTAS Professor Rufus Black. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

Despite China’s statement regarding the continued threat of the virus, Professor Black noted Tasmania had no new cases of COVID-19 for an “extended period” and continued to have processes in place to keep things that way.

“While no country is perfect, international students keep coming here because Australia has a high-quality higher education system and we are a successful multicultural society,” he said.

“We have worked to support our current students through the challenge of COVID-19 and we look forward to welcoming new students when the travel restrictions are lifted.”

Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff said he didn’t think Tasmania’s reputation would be damaged by China’s warning.

“I’m not anticipating a big impact,” he said.

“We will watch that because international education is a very important export for our community.”

University of Sydney researcher Salvatore Babones, who said many Australian universities had “extraordinary levels of exposure to the Chinese market”, said Chinese students would likely take government warnings with a “grain of salt”.

“They know that accusations of racism in Australia are pure propaganda, and they can follow our coronavirus numbers for themselves,” Mr Babones said.

Australian Strategic Policy Institute director Peter Jennings said the Communist Party wanted to focus attention away from its failure to handle COVID-19, and away from its failing economy.

“Beijing, is trying to make an example of Australia, but the party’s assertive nationalism is losing China friends and trade partners everywhere,” he said.