British Academic Forced to Abandon China Forced Labour Research
Professor Laura Murphy, an academic at Sheffield Hallam University, has been instructed to cease her research investigating supply chains and forced labour connections in China. This alarming development emerged in early November and highlights growing concerns about foreign interference in UK higher education.
Transnational Repression Reaches UK Campuses
According to Amnesty International UK, the case represents a clear pattern of transnational repression, where governments extend their reach across international borders to suppress dissent. Sara Rydkvist, the organisation's Hong Kong programme director, emphasised that intimidation tactics by the Chinese state extend far beyond its own territory.
Research conducted by the human rights group documents how Chinese and Hong Kong students studying in Britain frequently live in fear of surveillance and potential retaliation. Many have responded by changing their study focus, avoiding topics considered sensitive, or completely abandoning human rights research to protect themselves.
Universities Accused of Insufficient Response
The situation has been compounded by what critics describe as universities' reluctance to confront the issue directly. When student Tara Zhang was detained in China due to her overseas activism, SOAS University of London merely stated it was "aware of the reports" without issuing any public condemnation or calls for her release.
Francis Bown, writing from London, highlighted the seriousness of the threat to academic freedom at British universities. He argued that pious words from the UK government would be insufficient to address Beijing's actions and called for concrete measures to demonstrate Britain's commitment to defending liberties.
Bown specifically pointed to the proposed construction of the largest Chinese embassy in Europe at Royal Mint Court in London, warning that permission must be refused given concerns about potential interference with national security.
If political pressure from foreign states can shut down legitimate academic inquiry in the UK, experts warn that British campuses risk being "bought and bullied into silence." The fundamental principle of academic freedom cannot survive if truth becomes negotiable, making protection for those at risk and resistance to interference increasingly urgent.
