As US-China rivalry spills into education UCLA hits out at ‘corrosive’ racial profiling of foreign students
- ‘We must never resort to suspicion based on a person’s national origin’, university says amid growing concern of discrimination against Chinese academics in the US
- ‘Important research … does not arbitrarily stop at our national borders’, chancellor’s office says in a statement
“To do so is nothing short of discrimination, which is antithetical to our values as an institution. Racial profiling, in any context, is corrosive to our community,” the statement, issued by the chancellor’s office, said.
“The important research that UCLA undertakes does not arbitrarily stop at our national borders … Our collaborative spirit has helped us to thrive, and we are committed to protecting a research and teaching environment that is open and cooperative, and facilitates the appropriate exchange of research results.”
As Washington has accused Beijing of using unfair tactics – form forced technology transfers to intellectual property theft and industrial espionage – to gain an advantage, so Chinese academics working and visiting the US have complained of being victimised.