The Economist UK - 21.09.2019

The EconomistSeptember 21st 2019 Asia 65

1

T

heborderguardsweretoattemptto

catchtheinfiltratorsalivebut,ifthat

failed,toshoottokill.Butsomehow,a few

stealthyinterlopersseemtohavemanaged

tosneakpastthehundredsofthousandsof

soldiersdefendingSouth Koreafromits

hostileneighbourtothenorth.TheSouth

Koreanauthoritiesweredesperatetostop

thewildboarsinquestion,forfearthat

theymightinadvertentlyimportAfrican

swinefever,a diseaseknowntohavebeen

presentinNorthKoreasinceMay.OnSep-

tember17ththeSouthKoreangovernment

confirmedthatfivepigsona farminPaju,

closetotheborder,haddiedofswinefever.

Thegovernmentimmediatelyissueda 48-

hourbanonmovingpigs and saidthat

4,000pigsonandneartheaffectedfarm

wouldbeculled.Butthenextdayitreport-

eda secondcaseina neighbouringcounty.

Authorities are still investigating what

causedtheseoutbreaks,butwildboarare

plausiblesuspects.

SouthKoreaisthelatestcountryinAsia

to be affected by the disease, which is

harmlesstohumansbutusuallydeadlyfor

pigsandforwhichthereisneithera cure

nora vaccine.Sincethefirstcasewasre-

portedinChinaa littleovera yearago,it

hasspreadacrossthecontinent.Itreached

MongoliainJanuary,VietnaminFebruary

andCambodiainApril.Laosreportedits

firstcaseinJune.InAugustitspreadto

Myanmarand earlier this monthto the

Philippines.

Inanattempttohaltcontagion,perhaps

60mpigshavebeenculledinChinaanda

SEOUL

ThediseasekillingAsia’spigs

continuestospread

Africanswineflu

Boarwar

S

eek “harmonybut not sameness”, ad-

vised the Chinese philosopher Confu-

cius 2,500 years ago. Neither quality was on

display when Chinese nationalists violent-

ly disrupted a rally at the University of

Queensland in July in support of anti-gov-

ernment demonstrators in Hong Kong.

Since then Drew Pavlou, one of the organis-

ers of the sympathy rally, says he has re-

ceived a litany of threats from Chinese pa-

triots. The passport details of another

participant in the rally, who is from the

Chinese mainland, have been disseminat-

ed on social media. A third says authorities

in China visited his family there, to warn

them of the consequences of dissent.

Mr Pavlou claims his university has

since tried to squelch protests that might

upset China, a charge it firmly denies. It is

one of 13 campuses in Australia to host a

Confucius Institute, a language school and

cultural centre funded by the Chinese gov-

ernment. Some students worry about the

university’s cosy ties with China. Peter Hoj,

its vice-chancellor, has worked as a consul-

tant to the Chinese state agency responsi-

ble for Confucius Institutes. Recently he

quietly made a Chinese diplomat, Xu Jie, a

visiting professor. Many Australians were

outraged when Mr Xu praised the “sponta-

neous patriotic behaviour” of the Chinese

students who instigated the scuffle.

Other Australians are dazzled by the

money to be made teaching Chinese stu-

dents. Relative to the size of its population,

Australia now hosts more international

students than any other country. Just over a

third of them—around 150,000—come

from China. In the universities most eager

to woo them, Chinese students now fill

about a quarter of all places, says Salvatore

Babones of the University of Sydney. This

has turned tertiary education into Austra-

lia’s third-biggest export, enabling admin-

istrators to pump cash into new facilities

and research. But the conservative co-

alition government seems increasingly

worried about the implications for free

speech and security.

Lecturers gripe about complaints from

Chinese students who bristle at criticism

of their government. Some have apolo-

gised publicly for supposedly hurting stu-

dents’ feelings; one was suspended in 2017

after he claimed that ordinary Chinese be-

lieve that government officials only ever

speak the truth by accident.

Last year Victoria University cancelled a

screening of a film criticising Confucius

Institutes after Chinese diplomats ex-

pressed misgivings about the event. Some

academics complain that administrators

have encouraged them to keep awkward

opinions to themselves. One grumbles that

his “freedom of speech was egregiously

compromised” when a panel discussion on

Chinese politics was suddenly cancelled

ahead of a Chinese state visit to Australia.

Students police each other as well as

their teachers. Officially Chinese Students

and Scholars Associations, which are

backed by the Chinese state, run social

events and help newcomers. But they are

also assumed to snitch on dissenters, leav-

ing many Chinese students afraid to speak

their minds.

By courting controversy, these organi-

sations may have done more harm than

good to China’s interests, says Mark Harri-

son, a Chinese-studies lecturer at the Uni-

versity of Tasmania. So have the Confucius

Institutes, which are accused of stifling ac-

ademic freedom by discouraging students

from discussing sensitive topics. It is

“completely inappropriate for universities

to host what amount to arms of the Chinese

Communist Party on their campuses”, ar-

gues Kevin Carrico of Monash University.

Universities don’t think they need to

register the institutes under a new law that

requires agents of foreign governments at-

tempting to influence politics to declare

themselves. The attorney-general’s office

is mulling whether they should. A separate

government taskforce is investigating

whether universities are doing enough to

prevent sensitive research from reaching

foreign governments. The Australian Stra-

tegic Policy Institute (aspi), a think-tank,

reckons 300-odd scientists tied to China’s

armed forces have visited Australia since

2007, studying subjects such as quantum

physics and navigation technology. In one

“particularly worrying” case, a professor at

the University of New South Wales worked

with a Chinese general to develop super-

computers used in nuclear-weapons tests,

notes Alex Joske of aspi.

Australian universities say they are

working with the government to “safe-

guard security” without “undermining the

invaluable asset of global collaboration”.

But few seem keen to reduce their depen-

dency on a continuing influx of Chinese

students. This amounts to a “crisis of lead-

ership”, a conservative senator recently as-

serted. If universities do not change their

tack, says Mr Harrison, “they may find that

federal agencies do it for them.” 7

SYDNEY

Universities are accused of sacrificing

freedom of expression for cash

Chinese students in Australia

Waltzing

Confucius

One university, two sensibilities