Alert over dozens of ‘high risk’ Chinese academics at Oxford: More than 80 students who attended army-linked universities were last year working in sensitive fields with potential military applications, think-tank claims
- More than 80 ‘high risk’ Chinese students in sensitive fields at Oxford last year
- 669 Chinese nationals who attended army-linked universities now work in UK
- The students pursue subjects that have potential military applications
- Now pursue subjects including aerospace engineering and quantum computing
More than 80 ‘high risk’ Chinese students were last year working in sensitive fields with potential military applications at Oxford University, a think-tank has claimed.
They had all previously attended institutions closely linked with the People’s Liberation Army and Chinese intelligence services, it said.
The Henry Jackson Society’s survey – which covers Britain’s 35 top-ranked universities – found that there were 669 Chinese nationals who attended army-linked universities in their homeland who are now pursuing subjects such as nuclear physics, aerospace engineering, high-tech material science and quantum computing in the UK.
More than 80 ‘high risk’ Chinese students were last year working in sensitive fields with potential military applications at Oxford University, a think-tank has claimed. Pictured: Ling Ge, Tencent’s chief European representative, who earned a PhD from Oxford
Some attended elite universities in China known as the ‘Seven Sons of National Defence’, because of their closeness to the military, and the scale of their military research projects. Other universities have also been classified as ‘very high risk’ or ‘high risk’ over security fears, by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a research unit.
All have military-funded laboratories and research projects, and some have been publicly cited in espionage cases in courts abroad.
The disclosure comes after the Daily Mail revealed yesterday that Oxford has agreed to rename the prestigious Wykeham professorship of physics the Tencent-Wykeham chair, for a donation of £700,000 from the Chinese gaming, internet and software giant Tencent.
The technology giant is said to have a close relationship with China’s intelligence services.
Ling Ge, Tencent’s chief European representative, has a PhD in quantum computing research from Oxford. She has declined to comment on why her company is sponsoring the Oxford chair. It is not known whether she played a part in negotiating the grant.
The Henry Jackson Society’s survey – which covers Britain’s 35 top-ranked universities – found that there were 669 Chinese nationals who attended army-linked universities in their homeland who are now pursuing subjects such as nuclear physics, aerospace engineering, high-tech material science and quantum computing in the UK (stock image)
The think-tank study was based on Freedom of Information requests. It found that at Oxford, there were 16 Chinese nationals working in highly sensitive fields who went to one of the Seven Sons universities. A further 22 went to the ‘very high risk’ institutions and 44 to ‘high risk’ ones.
In all, the report said there were 100 Chinese nationals working in sensitive fields at Oxford – far more than at any other university. Second was Manchester with 56. There were 50 at Cambridge.
An Oxford University spokesman said: ‘The university has a rigorous due diligence process and Tencent has been approved as an appropriate donor by our independent committee to review donations, which includes independent, external representatives.’
- Boris Johnson suffered a backbench rebellion last night over his refusal to let judges rule on whether Britain’s trade partners are guilty of genocide amid growing concerns over Chinese human rights abuses, including its treatment of its Uighur Muslim minority.
The Commons narrowly rejected an amendment to the Trade Bill which would have forced ministers to withdraw from a free trade agreement with any country that the High Court rules is committing genocide.