The sudden passing of the National Security Law caused local and international concerns. The possibility of escalating restraint on Hong Kong's academic freedom is also worrying. Although the situation is not yet set in stone, we can evaluate its affect based on China's past events.

China's academic freedom has always been restricted by the government. Even if we set aside the first 30 years in China's history (1949-1978), where countless amounts of the educated had been forced to give up their academic career or even their lives, in political movements such as the Anti-Rightist Campaign and the Cultural Revolution.

In the second 30 years after the economic reform, even though the education quality and the global ranking of China's education institutions rises remarkably, restraints and interference still exist in the choice of topics for academic studies, the usage of teaching materials, the collection of data, the study and discussion of cases, and the management of the campus. The well known “seven forbidden topics,” such as freedom of the press, civil society, judicial independence, and past mistakes of the Chinese Communist Party, are just the tip of the iceberg. Even renowned institutions such as Peking University and Tsinghua University are not exempt from political suppression.

Riding the waves of China's rise in power, since 2004, Office of Chinese Language Council International (Hanban) established more than 500 Confucius Institutes and provided over a thousand Confucius classes in over 150 countries overseas.

However, topics that embarrass Beijing such as the concentration camps in Xinjang, the conflicts in Tibet, the political status of Taiwan and the recent political movements of Hong Kong, are all taboo and not allowed for open discussions. Due to the controversy of China's interference of academic freedom, multiple institutes announced the termination of cooperation status with Hanban in fear of Beijing's influential power.

The National Security Law was imposed in Macau in 2009, in which stricter visa policies have been applied. University professors were fired due to political reasons, Apple Daily was confiscated in high schools, outspoken scholars were accused of taking a certain political stance, surveillance cameras were installed in university campuses in the name of security reasons. These measures drove scholars away from the depressingly “stabilized” academic environment in Macau.

From this, we can estimate that Beijing will actively "process" freedom of speech and ideology in the field of higher education for "National Security" after the National Security Law is officially in effect.

First, soft measures will be taken to control issues related to budget and human resources. Academic topics that go along with mainstream opinions and CCP’s political agenda (which are happening right now) will be rewarded. Studies that might threaten social stability or national security (such as studies on economic inequality, citizen’s identity, social and political movement, democracy, China-Hong Kong relationship, corruption, credibility of or people’s satisfaction towards the government) will be marginalized. Open-minded or opposing scholars will be barred from receiving employment or promotion in the name of managerialism. It is also expected that Beijing will monitor and shape a new academic culture, such as using teaching evaluation as a form to demean professors who criticize the government. University presidents were forced to voice their stance on the establishment of the Hong Kong Coalition and the enactment of the National Security Law. This kind of culture to show loyalty to the government will only go worse.

Second, hard measures will be taken to "handle" important targets (such as those who led in social and political movements and those who rallied for foreign government's support). Information will be collected in order to have them framed and jailed, or leave the academic scene or even fled the country. Opposing unions and professional associations will also be suppressed. Hong Kong scholars who hold foreign citizenship will also be monitored. As the bureaucratization of educational institutes continues, it will create an invisible but sensible form of terror that forces scholars into self-censorship.

Hong Kong's higher education sector (especially those in humanities and social science) will have to endure a long phase of political cleansing. Hong Kong's valuable status as a strategic academic headquarters that is "under China, but outside of China" will end. Foreign scholars who are concerned about China’s progress on democracy will no longer be able to visit Hong Kong. Related academic conferences and seminars will reach a new point of low. Scholars who treated researching, writing and teaching as their vocation will leave to other countries due to self-protection. Academic positions will be taken over by Chinese scholars who studied overseas, as they have a nice academic profile, deep understanding of the mainland academic culture and are easy to control. Local scholars who stayed will be forced to adapt to this new environment. It is estimated that education institutions in Hong Kong will remain competitive internationally. However, as suppressed by the National Security Law, even scholars will be forced to turn blind eyes on injustice and kneel to power

(Yeh Kuo Hao, Executive Committee Member of Progressive Scholars Group)

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