The Australian University of Sydney has been criticised by international students and human rights advocates over two incidents that saw the promotion of the Chinese Communist Party, leading to concerns about the student’s freedom and the reach of the regime in Australia’s education sector.
“Everyone is talking about China’s Sydney campus. Isn’t the Youth Great Study coming?” the USYD student wrote in the July 26 post introducing the video.
“Learn new thoughts and strive to be a new youth. Welcome to this Youth Great Study online League lesson,” the student says before launching into a poetic quote.
Mr. Chang said that the study group is actually a communist indoctrination program that all university students in China under the CCP’s one-party rule are compelled to study.
“This is an app that basically all students in China have been victimized by… I hope the school [USYD] can condemn this mandatory learning,” he told The Epoch Times on July 30.
Political Indoctrination
Launched by the CCP-affiliated Communist Youth League of China in 2018, Youth Great Study is a political task aimed at guiding young people to “listen to and follow the Party,” according to an official release.The “League lesson” mentioned in the video constitutes the main content of the project. The lessons are organized in quarters, with about 10 sessions per quarter, starting at the same time as a new semester.
“In the video, the host asked a lecturer of the Marxism Institute: Some Western capitalist countries are much richer than China, does it mean that achieving common prosperity does not have to take the socialist road?
“The lecturer’s answer began with a Marxist analysis of different social systems, saying that capitalism achieves prosperity for a few based on exploitation, and went on to say that the COVID-19 pandemic is like a mirror, reflecting the hypocrisy and powerlessness of capitalism,” reads the story.
The university replied that the ability of its students and staff to learn, research, and collaborate in an environment free from interference is a priority.
“If anyone in our community has experienced or is aware of that kind of behaviour, we urge them to let us know so we can look into it and provide appropriate support. We also work hard to ensure none of our students or staff suffer unfair disadvantage or discrimination due to their political beliefs, as outlined in our Charter of Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom,” a USYD spokesperson of the university said in an email.
University Criticised For Playing CCP Anthem at Event
Mr. Chang has also been critical of the university after it played the “March of the Volunteers” live on the auditorium organ at its welcome event for international university students.In a Twitter post, he said that it appeared the university cared more about money than its students.
“Uni played Chinese national anthem in international welcome event,” Mr. Chang wrote.
“Good job USYD, I would recommend you to apply the funding from Chinese government not Australia government from this year.”
The young activist called on his alma mater to prioritize moral principles over economic interests.
“You can’t lose your face for money,” he said. “You are a top 20 university in the world, not a business.
“Your responsibility is not only to make money and do academic research with the money you earn but also to educate the public, defend human values and basic human rights. Otherwise, I don’t think you deserve to be a top university in the world.”
The university replied that not only China’s national anthem was played on the occasion.
Australian Human Rights Activist Speaks Out
Drew Pavlou, an anti-CCP human rights activist and former Senate candidate, echoed the criticism, citing the communist regime’s poor human rights record.“They should not be playing the national anthem, which glorifies the CCP on campus at an international student event,” he told The Epoch Times on July 29.
“The event was for welcoming international students, presumably. Many of them would be from Taiwan and many other countries across Asia, and it’s really bizarre that they would play an anthem that glorifies the CCP.”
“It seems that the University of Sydney, University of Melbourne, University of Queensland, a lot of the top universities in Australia, they’re consistently bending over backwards to accommodate Chinese government officials, to CCP propaganda.
“Basically, they’re trying so hard to bring in money from China, and they are thinking only about the money instead of human rights and not thinking about providing a safe learning environment on campus for Chinese students who might want to learn about democracy.”
Mr. Pavlou believes that Chinese students new to Australia might want to learn about free speech, democratic freedoms, and the true history of China. Additionally, he said they might also want to debate and discuss the role of the communist party in Chinese society and Chinese politics.
“Sadly, it’s a lost opportunity because where we could be helping educate the next generation of China to support democratic freedoms, to think critically about the role of the CCP… Instead, we’re just trying so hard to accommodate the communist party at every turn.”
The 24-year-old recounted a recent experience of himself at the University of Queensland (UQ).
“Foreign interference is activity conducted by or on behalf of a foreign principal which is coercive, deceptive, clandestine or corruptive and contrary to Australia’s sovereignty, values and national interests,” a spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs told The Epoch Times of concerns about the CCP’s politicisation of Australia’s education sector in an email.
“It is unacceptable for any foreign government to target members of our community in ways that prevent individuals exercising their fundamental rights and freedoms in Australia.”
‘Guidelines to Counter Foreign Interference’
They added that the federal government is working in collaboration with universities across the nation to monitor for attempts of foreign interference through its University Foreign Interference Taskforce, which has released guidelines for institutions to implement.“The Guidelines assist Australian universities to strengthen their resilience to foreign interference risks, while protecting students, staff and research that contributes to Australia’s prosperity,” the spokesperson said.
However, there have been concerns over how well the guidelines will be enforced. Sydney-based lawyer Mark Tarrant said that more is needed to ensure compliance with the guidelines, suggesting that legislation is needed at both the federal and state level.
In a submission to the NSW Parliament on the development of the tertiary education sector, Mr. Tarrant encouraged the Minister for Home Affairs to strengthen its requirements for all international student visa holders.
“The Minister for Home Affairs should make all visas subject to an Australian values Condition—that is, if the visa holder breaches the Australian values Condition, their visa will be cancelled.
He also encouraged the state government to take action to protect freedom of speech that supports liberal democratic values on campus.
“Legislation protecting freedom of speech at NSW tertiary institutions should be introduced to protect pro-democracy protestors on NSW campuses. Advocating for the CCP is not freedom of speech but a form of terrorism,” he said. “The Australian values statement should be incorporated into the NSW tertiary institutions freedom of speech legislation.”
