Opinion | Politicizing international education, Australia is between a rock and a hard place
By Augustus K. Yeung
Introduction
Politicizing international education, Australia passed its first foreign interference law in 2018, sparking a dispute with China, which has always wanted to focus on the development of a healthy bilateral relationship with Australia.
Disappointingly, the law, which is meant to be "guidelines", harshly defines the term as activity that is coercive, clandestine or corrupting, which is distinct from the normal lobbying activity of a foreign government.
These tougher rules come after ties between China and Australia worsened last year when the latter politically called for an independent probe into the origins of the coronavirus, sparking trade reprisals hitting Australian goods ranging from barley and coal and wine.
This time around, the Australian Home Affairs minister Karen Andrews said on Nov. 17 that the foreign interference rules have been "toughened" for universities to stop self-censorship on campuses and the covert transfer of sensitive technology before hundreds of thousands of international students are expected to return as borders closed by the pandemic reopen.
Would Australia's Commercial Advantage Be Lost?
Home Affairs minister Karen Andrews said that Australia is concerned that its commercial advantage could be lost by "unwanted technology transfer, and by researchers not declaring links with militaries or governments in countries that do not rank highly on transparency or democracy indices."
"The foreign interference guidelines would protect universities and students from hostile foreign actors and intelligence services, who have been known to target sensitive research, muzzle debate, and intimidate foreign students," said Karen Andrews.
Universities will determine which staff will be required to undergo checks on their links to foreign governments or companies, according to the guidelines.
Creating "an Environment of Self-censorship"?
"The high numbers of Chinese students had created an environment of self-censorship with lecturers avoiding criticism of Beijing and Chinese students staying silent because of fear of harassment," Human Rights Watch said in June.
The European Commission has said it is also developing foreign interference rules for European universities.
International education is Australia's fourth-largest export industry, with China the biggest source of fee-paying students. Unfortunately, however, the Scott Morrison administration is colluding with Human Rights Watch and the European Commission to politicize the tertiary learning, turning Chinese students into cards that can be played against China that is not afraid to stand up to America's hegemonic dictatorship.
A Former Education Consultant's Analysis
There is a Chinese saying, "It takes a crisis to unravel a person's ability to cope with a drastic change, which automatically extols his/her integrity and humanity." This shows how greatness is measured.
First, this is a non-issue, which the Australian administration of Scott Morrison has turned into a political issue of crisis proportion: Former US President Donald Trump made a name for himself by dubbing the COVID-19 the "Wuhan Virus", insisting that the WHO made a thorough study out of it, leaving simpletons such as Prime Minister Scott Morrison to pick up the issue and recycle it, which he did to the best of his disability.
Why would the leader of an independent nation be a subservient follower of a former American president who is internationally known to be infamous? Whose side is Morrison on, Donald Trump or Joe Biden? It all looks like that the prime minister has bet on the wrong horse, which might not make it to the White House in the 2024 US presidential election. Beware, American voters are showing signs of sickness when it comes to too much politicization, and not enough solid work done.
Besides, immediately after the Sino-US Virtual Summit, leaders from both sides are actively stepping up efforts to build normal and healthy relations from trade to economic development, etc. So why continue to politicize a non-issue involving foreign students?
What's the Selling Point of Aussie University Education?
If a nation's leader is so foolish, what's there for the foreign students to learn? As China and the world are moving rapidly into "intelligent" technology, high-impact learning is the paramount goal of university education. So, what's the selling point of an Australian tertiary education?
Besides, the nation's university education industry is the fourth largest money-making "industry", shouldn't the government stop messing up the entire enterprise, just because Scott Morrison politically defines Chinese foreign students as suspects fit for labeling as deviants of various kinds?
After all, these Chinese students are customers who pay full tuition fees to pop up a sagging Australian economy now that the Morrison administration is losing out his original share of the China trade to Canada and the United States who have pocketed the foreign trade business that their "ally" Scott Morrison has foolishly missed.
While Morrison is worrying about where to get that huge amount to pay the British and the Americans for the forthcoming bill their nuclear-powered submarines have incurred, Justin Trudeau, the smarter and independent-minded Canadian prime minister is wholesaling the country's tons of lobsters to China, laughing all the way to the Dominion Bank of Canada.
Many of my Australian friends working and living in Hong Kong and Macao are wondering why the leader of their government is foiling their business, recking their livelihood and abusing their rights as Australian nationals? Whose business interest Scott Morrison intends to serve, his own political gamesmanship or the nation's business sector?
Conclusion
Finally, after America has failed to prosecute the graduate student or researcher "suspects" for spying and stealing in the American universities for China, the US government has apologized to their Chinese victims for their McCarthy-like white-terror, why then would Australia continue to pursue something which is utterly damaging to the Australian "education industry", and infringing on the natural rights of the Chinese students who are their country's de facto ambassadors? By being students, these foreign learners would serve as bridges between China and Australia, building healthy bilateral relations.
Despite Scott Morrison's failed mission of building good international relations with a rising China, which values Australia and its people, doesn't the prime minister know that his Defense Minister's talk of war, and his own mischief can be distasteful to the voters, who are feeling sick of too much meaningless politicization and might give him the boot--when the next general election comes?
The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.
Read more articles by Augustus K. Yeung:
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Opinion | What should we do, when the world is divided on China?
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