(Photo : Photo by Chu Chen/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/Chu Chen via Getty Images)
CANBERRA, April 18, 2020 -- Wang Xining L, minister of the Chinese Embassy to Australia, hands over a health pack to a Chinese student from the University of Canberra in Canberra, capital of Australia, April 17, 2020. TO GO WITH "Feature: Chinese embassy distributes health packs to Chinese students in Australia"
Beijing officials are continuing to harass and intimidate pro-democracy Chinese students living in Australia as Australian universities have fallen short of protecting the victims' academic freedoms.
Many of the students who are subject to the threat have become frightened by the intimidation which has only heightened in recent years. The majority of the victims now take precautions with their actions and words in fear of their family members in China being targeted by the government.
Fears of International Consequences
Sophie McNeill, an Australian researcher for Human Rights Watch, authored a report regarding the struggles that Chinese students in Australia have been facing through the years. She expressed her sympathies to the young victims who have felt alone throughout their struggles with no protection from their universities.
Australian universities are afraid of criticism and action from Beijing if they dared to get between the Chinese government and the students, McNeill said. She added that officials decided to just ignore the issues and let the students be by themselves.
Chinese police have previously visited the families of students who were still on the mainland on three separate occasions. They would talk about their children in Australia and ask about their activities, the report said, citing interviews with 24 pro-democracy students from the mainland and Hong Kong and 22 academics at Australian universities, Yahoo News reported.
In one instance, Chinese authorities threatened to send one student to prison after he posted pro-democracy messages on Twitter while in Australia. They also confiscated the passport of another student who showed his support for democracy in front of his classmates in Australia, said the report.
Many Chinese students living in Australia have especially been affected by the cases. McNeill added most of the victims were in one-child families who are unable to experience the same level of freedom other youths are able to enjoy due to fears of something happening to their parents in mainland China.
Pro-Democracy Support
The students that the group interviewed expressed their worries, saying that if they were to show their support for democracy the Chinese government would punish or interrogate their families at home. This has forced victims to censor their actions and words while living in Australia, the Associated Press reported.
The Australian government set up a task force and new guidelines in 2019 to assist universities in countering what officials described as "unprecedented levels" of foreign interference from Beijing. Close observation focused on collaboration between Australian and Chinese universities and Confucius Institutes.
Universities Australia, which is a representative group of the country's top institutions, announced in March that universities were well aware of the "confronting reports of intimidation and coercion of students," by the Chinese government.
Catriona Jackson, chief executive of the representative group, said Beijing's actions against Chinese students in Australia were unacceptable. The group stressed out that students had the right to freely express their support for democracy and can debate in their schools without reprimand, BBC reported.
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