Report: Chinese students in Australia threatened by Beijing

Human Rights Watch says China’s government and its supporters have monitored, harassed and intimidated pro-democracy Chinese students living in Australia

SYDNEY -- China’s government and its supporters have monitored, harassed and intimidated pro-democracy Chinese students living in Australia, and Australian universities have failed to protect the students' academic freedoms, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Wednesday. The fear caused by the intimidation — which includes classmates reporting the students’ activities to Chinese officials — has intensified in recent years, according to the report. Terrified of reprisals against their families in China, many Chinese students and academics in Australia now censor their behavior, despite being thousands of kilometers (miles) from Beijing. “It was really heartbreaking how alone these students were and how vulnerable they are so far from home and feeling this lack of protection from the university,” said Sophie McNeill, Australia researcher for Human Rights Watch and the report’s author. “Universities really fear a backlash from Beijing, so rather than discuss these issues openly, they are swept under the carpet. But we think they no longer can be.” In three cases, police in China visited or asked to meet with the families of students because of the students’ activities in Australia, according to the report, based on interviews with 24 pro-democracy students from mainland China and Hong Kong, and 22 academics at Australian universities. Chinese authorities threatened to jail one student who posted pro-democracy messages on Twitter in Australia, and confiscated the passport of another who expressed support for democracy in front of classmates in Australia, Human Rights Watch said.