Secret agents or scholars? Chinese students reportedly set up in UK universities as spies for Chinese party

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Chinese students are being set up as "spies" inside the classrooms of Chinese Universities for the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), reports have said. UK-China Transparency (UKCT) conducted an investigation into the matter and surveyed academics in Chinese studies courses in Britain.

The findings of the investigation reportedly suggest that CCP and police is pressurising the Chinese students to extract intelligence on discussions and campus events as well as their fellow classmates.

The probe allegedly revealed that several Chinese students have admitted that surveillance is omnipresent and that they have been questioned after returning home from UK.

The report by UKCT said that such tactics have been designed to tone down debate issues that China feels are embarrassing. Some of these issues reportedly include human rights abuses in Hong Kong, Tibet and Xinjiang and scrutiny over its handling of the Covid-19 outbreak.

UKCT has identified Chinese Students and Scholars Associations (CSSAs), which happen to be support networks for Chinese students but are often accused of being extensions of the CCP. Reportedly, one British academic described CSSAs as "the primary source of student spies on campus," noting their "constant connections with local consulates."

The report also alleges that Chinese diplomats and CCP-linked operatives have interfered with UK-based Chinese students and even influenced China-related academic programmes. In some cases, universities have allegedly shut down research projects entirely after direct pressure from the Chinese government, reports said.

The findings that have been provided after the probe suggest that the CCP footprint is growing in UK academia and if not paid attention to could compromise Britain's intellectual freedom and national security, reports have said.

(With agency inputs)