China’s tech rise poses security and human rights dilemma for Australian universities

But only halfway into the five-year, US$20 million partnership, the Australia-China Research Innovation Centre in Information and Electronics Technologies is not attracting attention for the “innovative solutions” or positive “societal impacts” that were predicted by Jay Guo, a University of Technology Sydney (UTS) professor and founding director of the university’s Global Big Data Technologies Centre.

Instead, the partnership is at the centre of a growing debate about how Australian universities should balance much-needed international collaboration in promising fields with mounting concerns that such research could undermine the country’s national security and be used in ways that go against national values, including to boost Beijing’s authoritarian policies.

Far from being alone, UTS is one of a growing list of Australian universities facing scrutiny over partnerships with entities linked to or owned by the Chinese government, including CETC (China Electronics Technology Group Corporation), which has made and sold surveillance systems that are allegedly being used as part of a repression campaign against Muslim minorities in the westernmost region of Xinjiang.

Apart from UTS, the University of New South Wales Sydney, the University of Sydney, Australian National University, the University of Queensland, and the University of Adelaide have all been embroiled in controversy over their China ties.

“People are much more aware of the ethical challenges than they were a few years ago and, in some cases, in some areas like face recognition, a few months ago. The field is moving forward so rapidly,” said Toby Walsh of UNSW Sydney, where he specialises in artificial intelligence and holds the prestigious academic title of Scienta Professor.

“Because the technology is advancing so rapidly, all of us are waking up to the very serious ethical choices that we need to make.”