Speaking from experience: how freedom of speech can unlock a diverse international debate at UK universities

Photography by Mikael Kristenson

Dan Clarke recounts an experience he had to do with the issue of freedom of speech on campus, and suggests some lessons we can learn from it. 

Many think that freedom of speech is suffering on UK university campuses in domestic-based debates, but enter an international political science classroom and you will see the problem is much broader — a resolution is in everyone’s interest. 

Recent reports from a UK Parliamentary Foreign Affairs Select Committee has shown “alarming evidence” that non-democracies such as China have coordinated to curtail academic freedom in UK universities exploring issues in Hong Kong, Taiwan or Xinjiang.  The committee was seriously concerned with the role of entities funded by the Chinese Communist Party, such as the Confucius Institute, set up to promote Chinese language and culture, in seizing papers mentioning Taiwan at an academic conference. Eyebrows have also been raised in Westminster by the accusations of Chinese “financial, political and diplomatic pressure” on academic freedom to ensure that the narrative does not turn anti-Chinese.  

Fast forward to 9am on a Tuesday morning in a lecture theatre at one of the UK’s best universities, and in front of me, I saw this evidence from the Foreign Affairs Select Committee being challenged. A large-scale, cross-cultural misunderstanding occurred, lighting up a usually dormant 9am political science classroom and raising many questions on freedom of speech, academic freedom, and censorship issues in both the UK and China.

Pandora’s box was opened by our lecturer, who uncontroversially stated that the rights of minorities are better protected in democracies, giving the example of the widely reported Muslim crackdown by the Chinese Communist Party in China’s far-western Xinjiang province.

I must admit that this was a fairly contentious example to give to a one hundred student lecture theatre, where around thirty-percent are from mainland China. However, freedom of speech and academic freedom is essential in ensuring that our universities maintain the standard of rigorous analysis for which they are famous.  

The lecturer asserted that leaked documents from Chinese government sources have shown that approximately one million Uyghur Muslims have been coerced into detention and re-education camps. Some mainland Chinese students were offended by this remark, and a lecture-halting 20 minute discussion ensued.

Several previously acquiescent students suggested that China values the security of the collective over the rights of individuals and that the collectivist history of China influences Chinese domestic policy. 

It is not for me to present the pros and cons of the Chinese Communist Party’s actions in Xinjiang, but I will make a case for academic freedom and freedom of speech in UK universities.

Against the backdrop of many non-democracies allegedly attempting to curb academic freedom and freedom of speech in British universities, this story offers a glimmer of hope. One of the indisputable strengths of going to university is discussing ideas with people from all walks of life and all corners of the world. 

Broadly, university classes can be divided into two: those who have lived abroad until coming to study in the UK, and those who grew up in the UK and have not lived anywhere else.  Unsurprisingly, this creates an atmosphere where all of us consciously or unconsciously have embedded opinions on political systems and their interaction with economics, sociology, culture and more, which are often influenced by the different societies we all grew up in. 

Freedom of speech, as Peter Tatchell succinctly put it, creates an environment where “bad ideas are most effectively defeated by good ideas – backed up by ethics, reason – rather than bans and censorship”.  

The angry reaction of some students is completely understandable, but more importantly, the debate which ensued was educational for all involved.

Simultaneously, Chinese state-run media narrative on the Xinjiang was strongly exposed and non-Chinese students got an education on the historical philosophies of Chinese policymaking. With all this diversity of opinion, what better place could there be to debate such issues? 

Maintaining and expanding freedom of speech in British universities where there is such a diverse range of opinions is how these institutions should seek to preserve their status as world-leading. Whatever your opinion, it is clear that there is not enough debate surrounding these issues on university campuses: debating the fundamental and philosophical reasoning for decisions in policymaking really ought to be a priority.  

It is a shame that cultural chasms like this are not opened up more often at British universities – we can all learn something from one another. 

Pi Opinion content does not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial team, Pi Media society, Students’ Union UCL or University College London. We aim to publish opinions from across the student body — if you read anything you would like to respond to, get in touch via email.