New online conference rules raise academic freedom fears

Peking University, one of China’s top universities has announced new rules for attending online conferences organised overseas, including in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau. Applications by academics and researchers to take part will have to be vetted by university authorities in advance.

According to the new rules published by the university’s International Cooperation Department on 19 August, “confidentiality requirements” must be “strictly” followed by Chinese academics attending webinars and other online events.

In recent years China has greatly restricted the number of academics and researchers allowed to physically attend conferences overseas. The rules have now been extended to online conferences, with all applications to attend having to be submitted for approval at least 15 days before the event starts. The application should include an invitation letter and a clear agenda and participants must undertake to “keep secrets” and not jeopardise the reputation of Chinese institutions.

The goal is to “ensure the online international exchanges are done in an orderly fashion”, according to the guidelines. These state that participation in online conferences organised by ‘foreign parties’ should be treated the same as a temporary visit abroad regulated by rules issued in 2012 which specifically lay out confidentiality clauses relating to technology, safeguarding university intellectual property rights, and require a report on the visit to be submitted to the authorities on return.

In April China imposed new restrictions on the publication of academic research on the origins of COVID-19. Notices were published by several universities including Shanghai’s prestigious Fudan University – later removed from its website – that all academic papers on COVID-19 would be subject to extra vetting by the Ministry of Science and Technology before publication, with specific reference to the origins of the virus, a sensitive subject in China.

Academics said the Chinese leadership was intent on controlling the narrative on COVID-19, which is believed to have originated in Wuhan, in central China.

A researcher at Peking University who was previously based at a United States West Coast university told University World News: “It is not just coronavirus but many other issues that are sensitive now. Online conferences have proliferated and the [Chinese] leadership does not want anyone speaking out of line.”

Speaking on condition of anonymity, he pointed to Hong Kong’s National Security Law, US targeting of Chinese researchers and the need to protect other researchers by restricting their exposure abroad, economic problems in China stemming from the coronavirus and the ongoing US-China trade war, and other geopolitical tensions, including with Australia.

But he said attending webinars and other online events was vital for researchers in China to continue to collaborate internationally in research.

Concern for academic freedom

Human Rights in China (HRIC), an NGO, said in a statement last week that “in their scope and likely impact, the requirements raise serious concerns about restrictions on academic freedom, and, more specifically about non-compliance with a wide range of international human rights standards, including freedom of opinion and expression, freedom of association and the right to access and disseminate information”.

“The uncertainty and chilling effect of the pre-participation declaration process contributes to undermining the kinds of academic and expert exchanges of information, analyses, and international collaboration,” HRIC said.

It added that the requirement to submit details about a conference agenda, discussion topics and themes and the requirement to “keep secrets” raise concern over their functions as deterrents to academic engagement and inhibitors of free and open intellectual and scholarly exchange on topics that may be deemed “politically sensitive”.

The rights organisation pointed out that under China’s state secrets law, what might constitute a secret “is broad, vague and all-encompassing under implementing regulations that impact virtually every social sector, including research and education”.

“Within an overarching political culture of secrecy and lack of transparency, the vague and broad secrecy requirement can act as a blanket inhibitor of meaningful participation in academic conferences on a wide range of topics, including technological and scientific topics,” HRIC said.

“A vague secrecy requirement implemented by Peking University, one of the major institutions in China, will also undermine its international reputation for innovation and research,” the statement said, amid reports that other universities in China have implemented similar rules.

Extending controls

With so much academic activity moving online during the coronavirus pandemic, the move is seen as extending controls over Chinese academics to the online space. China already forbids its citizens from accessing foreign websites including Google, Facebook and Twitter.

Many academics work around these restrictions using VPN (virtual private network) services, but the authorities continue to tighten controls while monitoring and censoring China’s own social media services. But censorship is extending outside the country.

In June academics worldwide reacted with alarm over a statement issued by online conferencing company Zoom that it had been pressured by the Chinese government to suspend particular Zoom conferences deemed sensitive by China’s government.

One particular case related to the anniversary of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown on 4 June. Zoom admitted to its ‘mistakes’ of suspending host accounts in Hong Kong and the US and shutting down meetings over online 4 June anniversary events.

Referring to Chinese scrutiny of Zoom conferences, James Millward, China expert and professor at Georgetown University in the US, said in an open letter in June: “…My students, even though they are not political – or even if they are strong supporters of the Chinese Communist Party – could get in trouble by association with me.”