Renewed efforts to restrict university collaborations with China are unlikely to stop state interference and could prove “lose-lose” for scholars, experts have warned.

Both Washington and Westminster are looking at ways to control China’s influence over research, with the US Congress considering a proposal that would bar academics from federal funding if they work with Chinese partners.

In the UK, concerns over Beijing’s role in preventing human rights research conducted by a Sheffield Hallam University academic from being published have prompted the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee to examine Chinese government interference in academia.

Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese studies at King’s College London, said, given Chinese research and capacity is beyond that of the UK in many areas, British politicians will struggle to find ways to influence the Eastern giant.

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“For cancer research, for engineering, etcetera, most of the benefits would now probably accrue to the UK, because China simply has more people, more money and more research capacity.”

He warned that China could try to restrict research on sensitive issues such as Xinjiang, Tibet, and Taiwan by denying field access for scholars.

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“These restrictions on access to China are a lose-lose, because for the most part it means that scholars are therefore going off incomplete information.”

Chinese influence is nothing new, according to Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS, University of London, who is sceptical that anything concrete will come from the group of MPs.

He said that there is little universities can do to stop Xi Jinping attempting to interfere, and politicians would have to change the funding environment to make institutions act in different ways.

“University top management often bow to Chinese pressure because the funding model for universities makes universities dependent on overseas student fees for sustainability, and vice-chancellors prioritise sustainability over academic integrity and independence.”

With universities already “swimming” in regulation, Brown said further government interventions are unlikely to be helpful.

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“The most useful thing would be general, accessible, easy-to-implement guidelines on how to deal with attempts to influence research from outside parties across the board.

“We need to be proportionate about the risks of research on China and influence from China – and see it in a broader context rather than becoming paranoid and overwhelmed.”

He said that Chinese students have often been “demonised”, adding: “The narrative that Chinese students operate like some sinister fifth column at the heart of our institutions of learning is pernicious and fake.”

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President Trump  of Chinese students to US institutions. But a bill prohibiting researchers with links to China and other “hostile” countries from receiving federal funding has been tabled.

Steven Kivelson, professor of physics at Stanford University, was one of nearly 800 academics to sign a letter opposing the ban.

He said recent tensions have made it considerably harder to build the close collaborations between Chinese and US scientists that were possible even a few years ago, and triggered a fall in applicants from China.

“However, especially given the unpredictable nature of the Trump administration policies, it is not clear what any of this means in the long term.

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“It is also important to stress that many of the anti-China policies that most negatively impact scientific interchange between the US and China have had some degree of bipartisan support, so that the changes in going from the Biden to the Trump administration were at least partially ones of degree.”

patrick.jack@timeshighereducation.com