At least some of the useful idiots of Australian academia seem to be belatedly waking up to the fact that all that sweet, sweet Chinese money they’ve been gobbling blindly comes with some very cutting strings attached.
The very people who indignantly screech about their “academic freedom!” when a billionaire philanthropist’s bequest offers to fund a course in Western civilisation, happily take orders from China’s communist regime and turn a blind eye to Beijing’s blunt interference on Australian campuses.
That is, until they get the first hint that it’s their turn to cop the jackboot.
Academic staff at University of Technology Sydney refused to hand over personal details, including their passport numbers, after China’s Education Ministry demanded the information to continue a course for visiting students.
Science faculty associate dean for international partnerships Graham Nicholson told 21 UTS academics they were required to disclose their passport numbers and dates of birth “as part of the ongoing review of this program” by the ministry.
Left-wing academics just love China – until they start to be treated like actual Chinese citizens.
“You may be concerned by the request for your passport number,” he said in an email obtained by The Australian. “In China, all citizens have an identity card. As we don’t have these in Australia the next best option for them is your current passport number.”
…Mr Nicholson said in the March 19 email that two HNU staff members would undertake a “shadowing program” during lectures, practical classes and tutorials delivered to the Chinese students in Australia.
theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/beijings-passport-order-to-university-of-technology-sydney-staff
I don’t know what they’re complaining about. They’re just getting the full “Chinese experience”. If the useful idiots of the left don’t like being treated just like the citizens of the authoritarian regimes they champion, perhaps they ought to stop taking their money.