Recently, Chinese biologist and President of Capital Medical University, Rao Yi, expressed his sorrow in an article about most Chinese universities approaching the abandonment of recruiting international professors, sparking discussions online. Analysts believe that the contradictory policy of the Chinese Communist Party’s leader, with expectations of both sides, leaves individuals feeling helpless. Additionally, in China, there is no pure academia as everything is political.
On April 8th, Rao Yi published an article titled “Experiences and Lessons Learned from Recruiting International Scientific Talent in Our Country: Reasons and Consequences” on his public account, stirring up debates online. The next day, the official media Sohu published an article titled “Rao Yi: Almost Zero International Professors Introduced from Overseas,” supporting Rao Yi’s unique insights on the process of introducing international scientific talent to China over the past 17 years.
Rao Yi stated in his article, “International professors returning to China, except for ten years ago, are no longer a trend.”
According to Rao Yi, currently, only the number of international professors at West Lake University exceeds that of Peking University and Tsinghua University, and the ratio far exceeds all universities nationwide. Most universities are close to giving up on recruiting international professors. Even the Chinese Academy of Sciences, with ample funding and over a hundred research institutes, in the past decade, has had less than ten international full-time professors who have actually settled and stayed on the job, maybe even fewer than five. Peking University, Tsinghua University, and Peking Union Medical College with an American founding background are the same, almost entirely zeroing out international doctors, with the leadership consisting almost entirely of domestic doctors.
Facing this situation, Rao Yi attributed the reasons to many universities and research institutions being concerned that the level of international professors surpasses the leadership of universities and research institutions, making it “inconvenient” to manage, thus excluding international professors and “zeroing” them out.
Regarding Rao Yi’s article, Sohu interpreted that “among the heads (presidents and party secretaries) of the 330 Double First-Class and affiliated colleges, only 22 have overseas doctoral degrees. Among the 985 universities, those with study abroad experiences are even rarer, only 6 people (data as of March 26, 2024). Such a disparate proportion of data truly requires us to think deeply.”
The strong endorsement by the official media has made Rao Yi’s article more attention-grabbing. Spectators have labeled Rao Yi’s remarks as part of the CCP’s “zeroing” policy. The article pointed out that after the epidemic was “zeroed out,” another “zeroing” movement quietly arrived, including the zeroing out of foreign capital, foreigners, and a group of international professors who were brought in.
So, who is doing this “zeroing” work? Do universities and research institutions dare to act on their own? Independent writer Zhuge Mingyang told The Epoch Times that Rao Yi’s article and the official stance represent the intentions of the higher-ups.
He said, “All institutions in China are led by party committees. Since the exclusion of ‘returned overseas students’ has become a general phenomenon in Chinese higher education and research institutions, it is definitely not something that any individual dares to do on their own. This is related to what the top leader of the CCP is doing in rejecting foreign capital and foreign enterprises, and carrying out an expanded ‘anti-spy law’ to create trouble for foreign companies and foreigners. This kind of ‘wanting both… and…’ Xi-style thinking leaves those below with no way out.”
Zhuge Mingyang believes, “For universities, without or with fewer ‘returned overseas student’ professors, besides the many unit, regional, and academic standards that are reversed, there is also a conflict of personal/group interests and the avoidance of troubles from touching the ‘anti-spy law’ being one of the reasons.”
In recent years, there have been incidents where students report teachers for making so-called “reactionary” remarks in the classroom. On July 1st last year, the newly revised “Anti-Spy Law” of the CCP came into effect. On August 1st, the National Security Agency of the CCP issued a public order through WeChat, calling for the public to report spies, and announced rewards for those who report successfully.
Regarding Rao Yi’s article, some netizens commented on Sohu and NetEase, saying, “To avoid catching spies.” Another netizen sarcastically remarked, “The key is that the ideological awareness of the talents introduced from abroad is not high, they have not received the correct values shaping, are easily corrupting the youth, affecting the educational results of students!”
In fact, the political environment in China also makes it difficult for foreign doctors to settle. As early as 2019, the Party Committee of Peking University organized a series of activities titled “Inheriting the Red Gene, Strengthening the Secrecy Defense Line”. On March 28th this year, Tianjin Industrial Computer Science and Technology College conducted special training on secrecy education for all teachers. Even kindergartens organized teachers and parents for learning sessions to enhance their understanding and application of the “Anti-Spy Law.”
Chia Yifan, a commentator living in Japan, told The Epoch Times, “These chaos in the academic world are the result of the combined effect of the CCP’s dictatorship and the traditional official-centric culture, which is a unique phenomenon in Chinese society. In addition, since the CCP is constantly catching spies, many principals are afraid of getting into trouble and dare not hire foreign doctors or give them absolute power. What if this person is accused of being a spy? The school must bear the joint responsibility.”
In his article, Rao Yi mentioned that the number of international professors at West Lake University is the highest, standing out from the crowd. Established in Hangzhou in 2018 as a “private university,” the university has research institutes in Natural Sciences, Advanced Technology, Basic Medical Research, and Biology with the goal of conducting scientific research and training doctoral students. The school has received significant attention and investment from the authorities since its inception.
Public records show that in March 2015, seven academic celebrities, including Shi Yigong, Chen Shiyi, Pan Jianwei, Rao Yi, Qian Yingyi, Zhang Hui, and Wang Jian, submitted recommendations to government departments on the establishment of a new type of private research university, receiving strong support from the local government. In February 2018, West Lake University was approved by the Ministry of Education of the CCP.
West Lake University has attracted investments from many capital tycoons, including Shen Nanpeng, founder and partner of Sequoia Capital China Fund, Zhang Lei, founder of Hillhouse Capital, Wang Jianlin, the boss of Dalian Wanda, Pony Ma, the boss of Tencent, Wang Donghui, Chairman of Beijing Ronglian Technology Group Co., Ltd., Deng Feng, selected as one of the “Top 100 Venture Capitalists in China 2023” list, and Ge Hang, ranked 1,385th on the “2019 Hurun Rich List” with 2.8 billion yuan.
“Academic experts or capital tycoons, many of them have dual identities, with a political affiliation. For example, as members of the People’s Congress or the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), or members of a so-called democratic party. According to the previous terms used by the CCP, they are all ‘red experts’ and ‘red capitalists.’ In the People’s Republic of China, if you want to do academic research, you must also stand in line, have a political title to protect yourself. The reason Rao Yi dares to speak out is definitely because he has support behind him, representing at least the intentions from above,” Zhuge Mingyang said.
He further explained, “The reason why West Lake University can stabilize and expand is not only due to capital and faculty but because its research direction aligns with the needs of the CCP. Talents in biomedical research are exactly what the CCP needs, which can be applied to virus research, vaccine production, genetic analysis, biochemical weapon manufacturing, etc., meeting the strategic layout of the CCP. Therefore, whether it is the Ministry of Education or local governments, they are definitely supportive.”
In contrast, Ma Yun (Jack Ma), who also operates a school in Hangzhou, is quite different. In 2015, he and eight Chinese prominent entrepreneurs and scholars founded “Hupan University” with the goal of training corporate management personnel. Their slogan at the time was “Hupan will last 300 years”. However, Hupan University did not receive approval from the Ministry of Education and its fate is opposite to that of West Lake University.
On May 13, 2021, eight departments including the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the Public Security Bureau, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and the Market Supervision Administration jointly issued a document to regulate the registration and use of the names “university” and “college.”
The document stated that some training institutions established internally by enterprises have used the names “university” and “college” without approval, and conducted external promotion and enrollment, causing public misunderstanding, disrupting the educational order, and creating negative effects.
Although the document did not specifically mention Hupan University, public opinion generally believes that the incident is related to Jack Ma. After the publication of the document, Hupan University was renamed “Zhejiang Hupan Entrepreneurship Research and Study Center.”
“The reason why Hupan University failed is due to the lack of political support and the lack of relevance of its educational content to the strategic ideology of the CCP. Therefore, it can be said that in China, there is no pure academia, everything is political,” Zhuge Mingyang said.