Thread by @AMFChina

This op-ed by @HaesJulia and @klamuh in @TspWissenschaft downplays the hard authoritarian turn under Xi Jinping. Their policy advise for 🇩🇪-🇨🇳 academic cooperation would have been adequate during the early years of the Hu era. But a return to the status quo ante is unlikely /1

https://twitter.com/klamuh/status/1602754549764063233

The end of China's reform and opening up period (1978-2012) & the rise of the security state under Xi Jinping (2012-) does not feature. Instead the two authors complain about the growing emphasis on 'systemic rivalry' in 🇩🇪-🇨🇳 relations (key words highlighted by me in yellow) /2

Instead the authors bemoan that 'after 50 years of successful cooperation, mutual distrust has thus replaced a belief in the common benefits of scientific collaboration (author's translation).' The culprits are supposedly 'isolationism', 'nationalism', and 'deglobalisation' /3

According to @HaesJulia and @klamuh "China's rising education system should be seen less as a threat and more as an opportunity (author's translation)" But what collaboration opportunities are left in the arts and humanities under the conditions of #DocumentNo9 (2013)? /4

A problematic paragraph relates to the recent #A4Revolution. Here the authors invoke the image of Chinese universities as a stronghold of liberal values. While individual university leaders may have tried to protect students, they are not able to effectively oppose the Party /5

During the comparatively semi-liberal Hu Jintao era (2002-2012) Chinese academics *did* have greater license to teach and research sensitive subjects. But under Xi this semi-autonomy of Chinese academia has vanished. This has direct implications for 🇩🇪-🇨🇳 academic cooperation /6

According to @HaesJulia and @klamuh dialogue and cooperation is the preferred remedy. They also warn of academic decoupling. The irony here is that while no one asks for this on the German side, the CCP continues to limit academic freedom in China (and thus actively decouples) /7

The two authors suggest that German universities should learn from guidelines developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology. While this is sensible most German universities currently do not have the expertise or human resources to do risk assessment and due diligence well /8

The current system of university-based case-by-case review of research projects with dual use application runs the risk of irregular knowledge and technology transfer, including possible military application. Instead the German state and universities need to work together /9

The op-ed by @HaesJulia and @klamuh signals a growing pushback against a more assertive German China policy. I have argued in @HEPI_news that "(the) future of China studies in Germany is hotly debated precisely since the stakes are in fact fairly high" /10 hepi.ac.uk/2022/04/05/res…

"At stake is not only the future shape of scholarship on contemporary China. What is simultaneously being negotiated are the contours of Germany’s future China policy." This also explains the proliferation of op-eds in favour of the status quo ante /11 hepi.ac.uk/2022/04/05/res…

Based on my experiences during direct engagement with the German Rectors' Conference throughout 2021-22 I think that this boat has sailed. @HaesJulia and @klamuh may dislike the shift from a focus on 'chances' to a more risk-based approach. But the latter is here to stay /End

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