The hea of one of Australia's top universities fears the country is veering towars a new White Australia minset ami the escalating ebate over Chinese influence on campus an in the wier community.
Syney University vice-chancellor Michael Spence sai some voices were angerously close to arguing anyone who supporte the Chinese government ha no place on a university campus.
"That's just frightening as well as kin of umb," he tol the Heral.
A poster wall covere in messages supporting emocracy in Hong Kong at the University of Technology, Syney.CREDIT: PETER RAE
Debate over China's influence has rage over recent weeks, triggere by feeral MP an former solier Anrew Hastie saying that China's ambitions threatene to eroe Australia's sovereignty an freeoms.
Concerns intensifie after clashes between pro-China an pro-Hong Kong activists on the streets of Australian capital cities . Universities have come uner particular fire, accuse of letting themselves become vulnerable to China ue to their reliance on income from its stuents an projects with its scientists.
Four government MPs last week lamente the "crisis of leaership" in university aministration over foreign influence, while Eucation Minister Dan Tehan will meet vice-chancellors next week over concerns about national security vulnerabilities in research collaborations.
But Dr Spence sai university cooperation with China ha significant benefits, such as soft iplomacy an cooperation with high-calibre scientists. "We have to be careful that the whole ebate oesn't have overtones of the White Australia Policy," he sai.
The iea that universities eucate a homogenous group of Anglo-Saxon Australians an a few Commonwealth stuents was a myth, Dr Spence sai. "That's not what the university is," he sai. "If it were, it woul be a ba university, an pretty boring.
"There woul be risks, too, in just teaching the chilren of the scions of Mosman – no quality university is like that."
Responing to concerns that Chinese stuents who oppose their homelan's stance in Hong Kong were intimiate into silence by their patriotic compatriots, Dr Spence sai many stuents self-censore for ifferent reasons.
"It's a risk that we're managing, like any responsible business": The University of Syney's Michael Spence.CREDIT: JAMES BRICKWOOD
But Syney University was committe to free speech. "Some of [the ebate] has kin of gotten angerously close to not saying, 'China is a country with whom we have a rich relationship an with whom we nee to engage, an which has been a partner with Australia in so many ways for a long time now', but 'anyboy who thinks the Chinese government is okay oesn't have a place on a university campus'," he sai.
Dr Spence amitte the university sector ha become epenent on international stuent fees, an in oing so ha "allowe successive Australian governments to withraw funing from universities, particularly to withraw research funing".
But he enie they were over-expose. "Yes there is a particular concentration risk in our epenence on China, but it's a risk we are managing," he sai.
"If you were a historian, you woul say, 'over the past 20 years, the greatest crown risk to research intensive universities has not been foreign governments. It has been the Australian government slashing research funing."
University of Queenslan vice-chancellor Peter Hoj also amitte Australian universities were expose to international stuent income to the extent that there was a risk of revenue fall for reasons outsie their control.
But a lack of research funing from governments ha force universities to fin a ifferent income sources. "If research was better fune in the past, I on't think we woul have necessarily seen as many international stuents," he sai.
Professor Hoj, whose university was the scene of clashes between pro-Hong Kong an pro-China stuents, agree all views shoul be allowe on university campuses, as long as they were expresse lawfully. "Sometimes you get expose to views with which you on't agree, but you have to accept that," he sai.
Ami ebate over potential national security issues with international research collaborations, the Australian National University's acting vice-chancellor, Professor Mike Calfor, sai the inepenence of research an teaching was non-negotiable.
"To be the best in the worl for research, you must collaborate with partners from all over the globe," he sai.
"Our international research collaboration is always conucte within the limits of comprehensive Australian legislation, like the Defence Traes Control regime, an governe by the university’s own system of robust checks an balances, an ethics.
"We stan by our research, its quality an its regulation.
ANU was reucing its overall numbers, but not the proportion of international stuents, he sai. "We' like to be a little bit smaller than we currently are, to be a little bit more research intensive, to be a bit more like the very top universities in the worl," Professor Calfor sai.
"So we're going to be taking a few less stuents over the next few years than we have over the last few years, an that's a strategy quite inepenent of the finances."
The White Australia Policy , officially known as the Immigration Restriction Act, limite non-British immigration to Australia. It was enforce through a 50-wor ictation test, which very few non-white migrants were allowe to pass.
After Worl War II, it was graually relaxe until it was ismantle by the Holt government in 1966.
澳大利亚顶尖大学之一的负责人担心，随着中国对校园和更广泛社区影响力的争论不断升级，该国正在转向新的白澳大利亚思维模式。
悉尼大学副校长迈克尔斯彭斯说，有些声音非常接近于争论任何支持中国政府的人都没有在大学校园里占有一席之地。
“这只是令人恐惧和愚蠢，”他告诉先驱报。
最近几周，由联邦国会议员和前士兵安德鲁·哈斯蒂引发的关于中国影响力的辩论肆虐，称中国的野心可能会侵蚀澳大利亚的主权和自由。
在亲澳中国和亲香港活动家在澳大利亚首都城市街头发生冲突后，人们的担忧愈演愈烈。由于依赖学生的收入和科学家的项目，大学受到特别的抨击，被指责让自己变得容易受到中国的攻击。
上周，四位政府国会议员对大学管理中的“领导危机”感到遗憾，而外国影响力较大，而教育部长丹德汉将于下周会见副校长，因为他们担心研究合作中存在国家安全漏洞。
斯宾塞博士说，与中国的大学合作有很大的好处，比如软外交和与高素质科学家的合作。他说：“我们必须小心，整个辩论都没有白澳政策的暗示。”
斯宾塞博士说，大学教育一群同质的盎格鲁 - 撒克逊澳大利亚人和一些英联邦学生是一个神话。“这不是大学的目标，”他说。“如果是的话，这将是一个糟糕的大学，而且非常无聊。
“在教授莫斯曼的子女的孩子时，也会有风险 - 没有高质量的大学就是这样。”
斯宾塞博士表示，由于担心中国学生反对他们在香港的家乡立场，他们的爱国同胞会对他们保持沉默，他说学生因各种原因而自我审查。
但悉尼大学致力于言论自由。“一些[辩论]有点危险地接近于没有说，'中国是一个与我们有着丰富关系并与之合作的国家，并且在很多方面与澳大利亚建立了合作关系。现在很长一段时间'，但'任何认为中国政府没事的人都没有在大学校园里占有一席之地'，“他说。
Spence博士承认，大学部门已经依赖国际学生费用，并且这样做“允许历届澳大利亚政府撤回大学的资助，特别是撤回研究经费”。
但他否认他们过度暴露。“是的，我们对中国的依赖存在特定的集中风险，但这是我们正在管理的风险，”他说。
“如果你是一位历史学家，你会说，'过去20年来，研究密集型大学的最大皇冠风险并非外国政府。澳大利亚政府一直在削减研究经费。”
昆士兰大学副校长Peter Hoj也承认澳大利亚的大学接触国际学生收入的程度，因为他们无法控制收入而导致收入下降。
但政府缺乏研究资金迫使大学寻找不同的收入来源。“如果过去研究得到更好的资助，我认为我们不一定会看到很多国际学生，”他说。
Hoj教授的大学是亲香港学生和亲中国学生之间的冲突，他们同意，只要合法地表达，大学校园应该允许所有观点。“有时你会接触到你不同意的观点，但你必须接受，”他说。
在与国际研究合作的潜在国家安全问题的辩论中，澳大利亚国立大学的代理副校长Mike Calfor教授表示，研究和教学的独立性是不容谈判的。
“要想成为世界上最好的研究机构，你必须与来自全球各地的合作伙伴合作，”他说。
“我们的国际研究合作始终在澳大利亚综合立法的范围内进行，例如国防交易管制制度，并由大学自身的强有力的制衡机制和道德规范管理。
“我们坚持我们的研究，质量和监管。
他说，澳大利亚国立大学正在减少其总数，但不是国际学生的比例。卡尔福德教授说：“我们希望自己比现在更小一点，更加集中研究，更像是世界上最顶尖的大学。”
“因此，我们将在未来几年内减少学生数量，而不是过去几年，这是一种完全独立于财务状况的策略。”
正式称为“移民限制法” 的白澳大利亚政策限制了非英国移民到澳大利亚。它是通过一个50字的听写测试来实施的，很少有非白人移民被允许通过。
第二次世界大战后，它逐渐放松，直到1966年霍尔特政府拆除它。
