How fake award for a tycoon left Oxford University open to Chinese influence
https://www.msn.com/en-xl/news/world/how-fake-award-for-a-tycoon-left-oxford-university-open-to-chinese-influence/ar-BB180XSy?ocid=msedgdhp
Emma Graham-Harrison
An Oxford academic handed out a “meaningless” university qualification to a Hong Kong businessman with ties to the Chinese authorities at a high-profile ceremony in Shanghai last year, in the latest incident to raise concerns about Chinese influence on UK higher education.
Alan Hudson awarded the title “Belt and Road Academician from Oxford University” to Chan King Wai, who is a member of an advisory body to China’s rubber-stamp parliament, at a ceremony attended by an official from the British consulate and dozens of other people.
The belt and road initiative is a major foreign and economic policy project which has been at the heart of China’s increasingly assertive international presence under its president, Xi Jinping.
Oxford University only gives a handful of honorary degrees at the Encaenia ceremony each year. Hudson, who has now retired from his position at Oxford, confirmed he had created the title given to Chan, and that it did not carry any official weight
“I looked up the meaning of ‘academician’ and it is absolutely meaningless, it means anybody involved with the university, of any description. So I said there you go, we can put that on the certificate. In recognition of his contributions to the programme.
“The incentive for this was a potential donation to the university or the department, and for a number of programmes.” Hudson said. He added that he did not plan the lavish ceremony that was captured on camera, and was surprised it was such a big event.
Hudson has deep ties with China and Shanghai in particular. He was awarded the Magnolia Gold Award for contributions to the city in 2013, and at the same time was made a visiting professor of the Chinese Executive Leadership Academy in Pudong, a Communist party school focused on “international exchange and cooperation”.
At Oxford, in his role as director of programmes in leadership and public policy, Hudson organised short courses, usually a couple of weeks, for officials from countries including China, where the university’s brand is widely recognised. Participants received a certificate of attendance, rather than an academic qualification; one of the attendees had suggested giving an honour to Chan, although Hudson said the businessman had not attended a course in Oxford.
If academics are prepared to hand out fake academic qualifications to chase money what worse are they prepared to do?
Neil O’Brien, MP for Harborough
The university’s regional office for Hong Kong knew about the honour and hoped touse his contacts for fundraising,
Hudson added: “I was contacted by the Hong Kong development office [of Oxford University] who wanted to approach Chan King Wai ... from the point of view of a substantial donation to the university.”
Neither Oxford University nor the Oxford Chinese studies department responded to requests for comment about the award, or whether Chan had made a donation. Hudson, who retired last year, said discussions about a donation had continued but he did not believe one had been made yet.
Chan was born in mainland China before moving to Hong Kong in 1979 where he built his fortune. He now presides over a conglomerate with interests in areas from real estate to insurance. He has extensive ties to institutions on the mainland.
In addition to his role advising the National People’s Congress, Chan is also vice-chairman of a commerce industry body with ties to the Chinese Communist party, sits on the council of several Chinese universities and holds a string of other official posts.
Neil O’Brien, MP for Harborough and a founding member of the China Research Group, which brings together Conservative politicians who are critical of Beijing, said British universities needed to be more careful about fundraising in China.
“Universities need to fundraise but the fear is that if academics are prepared to hand out fake academic qualifications to chase money what worse are they prepared to do? There have been a number of concerning cases of UK universities being easily politically influenced for a bit of cash,” O’Brien said.
“I’d welcome a deep look by the Department of Education at where corporate and individual donations are from, and what political impact that is having,” he added.
The award to Chan King Wai was also condemned by Benedict Rogers, co-founder and chairn of the campaign group Hong Kong Watch.
“This sorry episode is yet another example of the growing influence the Chinese Communist party has in our leading academic institutions, which remains largely uncontested and free from scrutiny,” he said.
Last month students at Jesus College, Cambridge, called for it to cut ties with China, after the Times revealed that it had accepted £200,000 from a Chinese government agency and £155,000 from the telecommunications giant Huawei.
In a letter, the student union accused the college of failing to be “fully financially transparent”, warning that it “would always have been at risk from the CCP’s [Chinese Communist party’s] soft power information and influence campaigns”.
Another Cambridge college, Wolfson, has also come under fire over the honorary fellowship it granted to Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam in 2017. She has presided over a crackdown on free speech and political opposition in the city, and this month was put on a US sanctions list for her role in suppressing dissent. The college’s governing body had said it was reconsidering the award, even before the sanctions were announced.
There is also growing concern in the US about the Chinese government’s influence on its educational institutions, as relations between the two countries deteriorate.
This week the US State Department designated “Confucius Institutes”, government sponsored centres which host Chinese culture and language teachers, as foreign missions, saying they were part of “Beijing’s multifaceted propaganda efforts”.