Hong Kong students studying in the
UK should register under false names
to protect themselves, according to a
former British consulate worker who
was tortured by Chinese authorities.
Simon Cheng, 29, a Hong Kong citi-
zen who has been granted political asy-
lum in Britain, worries that the Chinese
embassy may seek to meddle in the af-
fairs of UK bodies to gain information
about others who have followed him.
Last month China imposed a security
law on Hong Kong that in effect bans
protest. Students fear the law places
them in a perilous position even in the
UK. They worry that tensions with Chi-
nese students on campuses could ex-
plode, and that informants may report
their dissent to the regime.
Last year Mr Cheng, who has a Brit-
ish National Overseas passport, was de-Use false names to dupe spies,
students from Hong Kong told
tained at the border for 15 days on his
way back from a business trip in China.
He was accused of inciting political un-
rest for supporting the pro-democracy
movement. He was shackled, blindfold-
ed, held in stress positions and beaten
then forced to sign a confession.
He and friends have since been help-
ing about a dozen Hongkongers each
day with asylum claims in Britain and
other countries. However, he urged stu-
dents in the UK to keep a “low profile”.
He told The Times that “we always re-
commend they keep their personal in-
formation secret”, adding: “We worry
about some students being spies for
China, so we’re monitoring it. We re-
commend if they’re still students that
they shouldn’t give their real names to
British universities. I believe the Chi-
nese embassy would be interested in
that data — they would want to know
who has applied for political asylum.”There are concerns that the regime
uses Chinese students as pawns in Brit-
ish institutions. More than a quarter of
tuition fee income at ten leading uni-
versities comes from Chinese overseas
students.
Honcques Laus, 18, fled to Britain
after claiming he was arbitrarily impris-
oned for 22 days for his part in pro-de-
mocracy protests. He left his family be-
hind and has applied for asylum, hop-
ing to transfer his degree course to a
British institution, but fears reprisals.
“It’s unpredictable. I don’t know what
the [Chinese] government will do.”
The Chinese embassy did not re-
spond to a request for comment. Uni-
versities UK said that institutions
“would not share the personal data of
their students, staff or anyone on their
records without consent”.
Weekend Essay, pages 32-33
Hong Kong election delayed, page 42Ewan SomervilleOLIVER PALOMBI/MEGARenaissance man Aidan Turner, star of the BBC series Poldark, was seen filming
in Tivoli, near Rome, this week for a drama in which he plays Leonardo da Vinci
Backlash over Chinese Gordonstouns
One of Britain’s leading public schools
faces a backlash from former pupils
over plans to set up outposts in China.
Gordonstoun, near Elgin in Moray,
whose alumni include the Duke of
Edinburgh and the Prince of Wales, has
also been criticised by Amnesty Inter-
national, which said that institutions“may wish to consider the human rights
impact of any business decision”.
Justin Baldwin, an author, director
and former Gordonstoun hockey
captain, said: “Kurt Hahn, the school’s
founder, was a German Jew who fled to
Britain from Nazi Germany. How is
Gordonstoun going to reconcile his
principles with a country under a
communist dictatorship?”A spokeswoman for the school,
which was founded in 1934, said: “We
spoke to a handful of alumni who ex-
pressed reservations about our plans to
open schools in China in 2022. We out-
lined that we have our founding ethos
at the centre of our plans for inter-
national expansion. We believe the
school will contribute to the reform and
innovation of education in China.”Marc HorneNews