Laura Murphy is a professor of human rights and contemporary slavery at Sheffield Hallam University. She investigates how the Chinese government exploits the country’s Uyghur community to mine rare minerals and make consumer goods for the west, something the Chinese state denies. Murphy describes to Helen Pidd how in 2024, strange things began to happen. “I started receiving emails – journalists, other researchers, and companies who relied on our research to help them do due diligence, were writing to me and calling and saying: hey, I noticed that your reports…
Tag: Higher education
MPs preparing to examine Chinese state influence at British universities
The foreign affairs select committee is drawing up plans to examine Chinese government interference in academia as part of its inquiry into the UK’s strategy towards Beijing. MPs are broadening the scope of their investigation into the China audit, an internal government review of UK-China relations that concluded in June, to look into Chinese state influence at British universities. Ministers are under pressure to take a more robust approach after the Guardian disclosed that Sheffield Hallam University had blocked the work of a professor whose work was critical of China’s…
China’s threat to academic freedom in the UK | Letters
Your report (UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China, 3 November) is deeply alarming. Amnesty International UK’s own research shows that attempts by the Chinese state to intimidate and silence people extend far beyond its borders: a clear case of transnational repression, where governments reach across borders to stifle dissent. We have documented how Chinese and Hong Kong students in the UK live in fear of surveillance and retaliation. Some have changed the focus of their study, avoided “sensitive” topics, or dropped research on human rights altogether.…
China-critical UK academics describe ‘extremely heavy’ pressure from Beijing
UK academics whose research is critical of China say they have been targeted and their universities subjected to “extremely heavy” pressure from Beijing, prompting calls for a fresh look at the sector’s dependence on tuition fee income from Chinese students. The academics spoke out after the Guardian revealed this week that Sheffield Hallam University had complied with a demand from Beijing to halt research about human rights abuses in China, which had led to a big project being dropped. One UK-based China scholar has since described being a victim of…
Counter-terror police investigate claim UK university halted research after Chinese pressure
An investigation into allegations that a British university was subjected to pressure from Beijing authorities to halt research about human rights abuses in China has been referred to counter-terrorism police. The Guardian reported on Monday morning that Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC) research institution, had ordered professor Laura Murphy to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in the country in February. Murphy’s work focuses on Uyghurs, a persecuted Muslim minority in China. A South Yorkshire police spokesperson said the force…
UK university halted human rights research after pressure from China
A British university complied with a demand from Beijing to halt research about human rights abuses in China, leading to a major project being dropped, the Guardian can reveal. In February, Sheffield Hallam University, home to the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), a leading research institution focused on human rights, ordered one of its best-known professors, Laura Murphy, to cease research on supply chains and forced labour in China. Murphy’s work focuses on Uyghurs, a persecuted Muslim minority in China, being co-opted into forced labour programmes. Her research,…
Home Office grants extra visas for UCL international students told to defer
Hundreds of international students will be able to take up their promised places after negotiations between the Home Office and University College London ended with the government granting extra visas. Hundreds of students, many from China, had been left in limbo after UCL underestimated the demand for places this year and exceeded its allocation of confirmation of acceptance for studies (CAS) electronic documents allowed by the Home Office. UCL issued an apology to those affected, telling them it was “extremely sorry for the disruption and uncertainty”, and offering to pay…
International students left in limbo by UCL after university exceeds visa allocations
Hundreds of international students accepted on courses by University College London have been left in limbo and facing thousands of pounds in costs, after the university admitted it had run out of places just days before many were due to start. About 200 students from China alone have been affected after UCL exceeded its visa allocations for the coming academic year, with the university initially telling the students that they would have to defer their studies until 2026. UCL has blamed “an extraordinary surge in demand” for the over-recruitment of…
Enjoy the magic of university life | Brief letters
Simon Jenkins seems to have forgotten the purpose of higher education (As thousands more teenagers scramble for university places, I have to ask – why?, 14 August). It is not, primarily, for vocational study, nor is it something to rush through in two years. It is to provide a lifetime love of learning and to encourage different ways of thinking. The solution is not to “cut back”, as Jenkins suggests, but, if anything, to ensure that as many students as possible experience the magic of university life.Emeritus Professor Gad HeumanUniversity of Warwick…
UK academics studying topics sensitive to China face harassment, survey finds
Academics and students of Chinese studies in Britain are being subject to harassment, surveillance and pressure to self-censor as they seek to avoid disruption to funding, a survey of universities by a transparency group has concluded. The findings by UK-China Transparency coincide with new government guidance stating that universities may be breaching rules by having partnerships with foreign governments that require academic staff to pass ideological tests – for example, by hosting Confucius Institutes. Academics working on topics that are politically sensitive to the Chinese Communist party (CCP) reported instances…