During President Xi Jinping’s first visit to France in five years, discussions mainly focus on economic and geostrategic issues, overlooking a crucial aspect of the agenda: human and cultural exchanges, including academic exchanges. This area is highly important as China’s influence extends to this field as well. Academic exchanges are critical in allowing societies to build connections beyond official exchanges, but the space for these exchanges to contribute to knowledge and thought progress has been shrinking despite the resumption of Chinese academic diplomacy following a hiatus due to Covid-19.
In France and other European countries, Chinese students and academics benefit from a legal guarantee of freedom, while universities in China are tightly controlled by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). These institutions are structured around administrative levels that are under the direction of a party secretary, an unquestionable authority. The primary mission of these secretaries is to ensure that everything taught and published adheres to the party’s ideology and diverges significantly from Western theoretical and conceptual frameworks, deemed “erroneous” in Chinese education.
In 2013, the Central Committee’s “Document No. 9” outlined seven themes considered “erroneous” ideological positions that should not be publicly discussed or taught, including constitutional government theory, universal values, civil society, neoliberalism in economics, Western-style journalism, historical nihilism, and challenges to Chinese socialist characteristics. This led to an ideological campaign in schools and universities to eliminate foreign textbooks, with the trend continuing to intensify through the banishment of certain topics and concepts from study materials, and even criminalization of certain historical subjects through amendments to the penal code.
As academic freedoms come under further threat in China, the implications for academic exchanges with foreign institutions become concerning. Surveillance cameras installed in classrooms and the pervasive influence of party ideology over academic activities raise questions about the role of academic exchanges in fostering genuine dialogue, exchange of ideas, and the advancement of knowledge. The impact of these restrictions and controls on academic collaborations and individual academic freedom remains to be seen as the Chinese government tightens its grip on academic institutions and their personnel.
Despite the emphasis on economic and geopolitical issues during President Xi Jinping’s visit to France, the significance of human and cultural exchanges, including academic collaborations, should not be overlooked. Academic exchanges play a vital role in fostering connections between societies and contributing to the progress of knowledge and understanding. However, the increasing restrictions on academic freedom and the enforcement of party ideology in Chinese universities raise concerns about the future of academic exchanges and the extent to which genuine intellectual exchange and collaboration can flourish in this context.
