After a trip to China, UCD leadership sent an email to staff lauding the "wisdom of the Chinese approach" to funding higher ed & encouraging the Irish government to learn from China.
OK, but here are a few aspects of the "Chinese approach" the message forgot to mention:
OK, but here are a few aspects of the "Chinese approach" the message forgot to mention:
First, Xi Jinping has advocated tightening ideological controls on universities. chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/12/xi-cal…
This includes tougher oversight of staff ideology chinadigitaltimes.net/2017/09/univer…
As is well known by now, this is part of a wider tightening of public discourse in China. nybooks.com/articles/2016/…
The aim is to censor and manipulate public discussion about politics. nybooks.com/daily/2017/09/…
Some of the priorities and fears of the party in terms of ideology and censorship can be found in Document no. 9: chinafile.com/document-9-chi…
This includes an emphasis on pernicious Western influences, which was made manifest this summer with the China Quarterly & Cambridge University Press debacle theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Yes, CUP and CQ got their access back, but of course stories about the cenorship episode itself were, well, censored in China theguardian.com/world/2017/aug…
It's not just about journal access or monitoring staff ideology, though, it's also about censoring archives ft.com/content/4ffac5…
And intimidating researchers soundcloud.com/user-340830825…
And exporting censorship to universities abroad supchina.com/podcast/alarm-…
While continuing to pressure publishers reuters.com/article/us-chi…
To limit discussion of "Western" values chinadigitaltimes.net/2015/03/unrave…
But, you can learn all you want about "Xi Jinping Thought" at the various institutes dedicated to Xi sprouting up around China. scmp.com/news/china/pol…
And hey, if you're a researcher at some universities you can apparently even get promotion credit for posting messages, which I'm sure would never be subject to political censorship in China. nature.com/news/top-chine…
What happens if you challenge the "Chinese approach"? Probably nothing much most of the time, but there's a chance your career could be damaged aljazeera.com/programmes/tal…
Or if you are too vocal about some issues, you could end up in jail. irishtimes.com/news/world/asi…
Where you might spend the rest of your life. bbc.com/news/world-asi…
And even have the state manipulate & monitor your funeral and harass your family after you die theguardian.com/world/2017/jul…
So, the bottom line: let's be careful when we praise the "Chinese approach" to academia. The funding might be nice and to be sure Chinese authorities do many things right, but let's consider the whole package.
