National security law: Australian universities move to protect Hong Kong students
- Measures taken by teaching staff include warning students about the scope of the legislation and allowing anonymous assignment submissions
- One university has undertaken an ‘audit’ to identify courses in which they fear Hongkonger students could be reported to authorities by their mainland Chinese classmates
Beijing imposed the sweeping legislation on Hong Kong in June, banning secession, subversion, terrorism and collusion with external forces, although offences are broadly defined. The maximum penalty for each crime is life imprisonment, and the legislation claims jurisdiction everywhere on the planet. The law has been heavily criticised, and nine countries – including the United States, Britain, Australia and Germany – have since suspended extradition treaties with the city.
Hong Kong Police have arrested more than two dozen people under the law, although only two have so far been charged. The city’s authorities have also issued arrest warrants for a number of activists based overseas, including one US citizen.
Kevin Carrico, a senior lecturer in Chinese Studies at Monash University in Melbourne with a focus on nationalism and identity, said Hongkongers studying in Australia were concerned that comments they made overseas would get them into trouble with the city’s authorities.
‘PLANS TO PROTECT STUDENTS’
At La Trobe University in Melbourne, an email circulated on August 20 by vice-chancellor John Dewar among senior university officials led to what a faculty member familiar with the situation described as an “audit” to identify courses where Hongkonger students could potentially be reported to authorities by their mainland Chinese classmates.
Dewar’s email raised concerns about the law in the context of a Wall Street Journal article published a day earlier that described how staff at US universities – including Harvard and Princeton – were taking precautions such as anonymous discussions and introducing content warnings on courses, said the faculty member, who requested anonymity.