Thread by @AMFChina

Our article "Mitigating threats to academic freedom in Germany: the role of the state, universities, learned societies and China" has just been published open access in the International Journal of Human Rights @InRights /1
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…

What follows is a brief summary. In our article we probe whether or not the ecosystem of organised academia in Germany defends academic freedom sufficiently, particularly in respect to attacks on it by the Chinese government /2

Despite constitutional guarantees of academic freedom, academics face multiple threats from populist politicians, dubious third-party funding, uncivil society, and misguided developments within German academia itself /3

These domestic threats are exacerbated by the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) globalised censorship regime, dubious party-state funding from China, the weaponization of informal Chinese networks, and an unhealthy dependency among Western China scholars on ‘official China’ /4

Our research reveals that the German state, universities, and learned societies have so far failed to properly identify – let alone mitigate – threats to academic freedom emanating from state and non-state agents under control of the CCP /5

We argue that while German parties have largely abdicated political leadership, German universities exhibit shortcomings in terms of their ethical leadership /6

Drawing on an in-depth analysis of a controversial statement by the Board of the German Association for Asian Studies (DGA) we argue that leading China scholars also seem unwilling or unable to exercise intellectual leadership /7

The widespread abdication of leadership now risks to entrench censorship and self-censorship in academia, which in the medium- to long-term will severely undermine national and democratic security in Germany /8

It should be a concern for both the German state and civil society that so far neither politicians nor academics have come up with sensible suggestions on how to mitigate such risks /9

While we do not wish the German state to directly interfere in the self-government of German universities, it has a constitutional obligation to mitigate domestic and international threats to academic freedom /10

This will require a political debate about the merits and demerits of relying too much on third party funding in general and from the Chinese party-state in particular /11

The German state also has to create a regulatory framework for greater transparency and accountability of German universities. This will require reforming Freedom of Information laws at the federal and state level /12

German academics should furthermore critically reflect on their position towards the Chinese party-state. Attempts by academics to try to enjoy the best of both worlds need to stop. At the very minimum evident conflicts of interest should be transparent for all /13

Here we would like to emphasise that we do not prescribe a particular political position that academics should take. Nevertheless, German China scholars should be upfront with members of the public how their value orientations inform their respective takes on Chinese affairs /14

We would like to stress that a supposedly “neutral” position does not exist. China scholars may want to consider the words by Desmond Tutu, who famously said that "(if) you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor" /15

While every scholar has the freedom to choose his research topic and stance, we would welcome if more China specialists were willing to publicly acknowledge, analyse and critique the totalitarian turn in Xi’s China /16

A more reflective attitude would also go a long way in facilitating a more respectful professional and public discourse about sensible strategies how to best mitigate the threats of the Chinese Communist Party to academic freedom in Germany /17

You can read our full article here /End
tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.10…