Chinese Universities Give Foreign Professors the Cold Shoulder

In China’s repressive academic environment, academic institutions hesitate to hire foreign talent for fear of running afoul of the CCP, a China expert says.

Graduates during a ceremony held for 3,768 master and 898 doctoral candidates at Tsinghua University, in Beijing, on July 18, 2007. China Photos/Getty Images

Chinese universities are increasingly excluding foreign academics from professorships, according to a recent article by the head of a Beijing university. Analysts believe that the tight grip of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) on academic freedom and its draconian measures against foreigners are at the root of the decline in overseas talent.

On April 8, Rao Yi, president of Beijing’s Capital Medical University, said in a lengthy blog post that most universities are close to abandoning the recruitment of overseas professors. According to Mr. Rao, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a well-funded body with more than 100 research institutions among its members, currently has less than five international professors. A similar situation exists at major universities such as Peking University and Tsinghua University, which have almost no international professors.