Filming in a lecture. Pressuring other Chinese students to be quiet. A Chinese teacher supervising the interview.
In such ways, China is suspected of monitoring its citizens at Finnish universities. Professors and teachers working at Finnish universities tell about it.
By monitoring young people who have gone abroad, China aims to prevent any kind of activity that criticizes the country. It’s about the same thing that human rights organization Amnesty will report in early May.
In Amnesty’s report, Chinese students living in different parts of Europe and North America tell how they have been followed during demonstrations. Their family members living in China have also been threatened.
The professor at the University of Turku is familiar with the phenomenon.
– Yes, there are student spies. Some of the students are members of the Communist Party, says the director of the East Asian Research and Education Center Lauri Paltemaa.
Amnesty says that one of the methods of operation of the arresting apparatus is to monitor which students participate in demonstrations.
In the report, for example, a student living in London tells how the Chinese security authorities had contacted his father, who lives in China, just hours after the student had participated in the Tiananmen Square massacre commemoration. The father had been told to ban his daughter so that she would not participate in “occasions that tarnish China’s reputation”.
The demonstrations are poison for the Chinese leadership, because it wants to maintain the image of a united nation. The monopoly of the Communist Party is based on the suppression of all resistance.
Paltemaa knows that some of the Chinese studying in Turku are politically active and critical of their home country. Anti-Chinese sentiments have also been seen in Turku.
Student: “Big brother” supervises
In Amnesty’s report, many students say that they avoid other Chinese students for fear that they will report the behavior of others to the Chinese authorities. So the students supervise each other.
The representatives of Finnish universities interviewed by bring up precisely such cases.
A Finnish university teacher, who remains anonymous, tells about a case where one of the Chinese students in the teaching group always kept the camera closed during distance learning in the corona era.
does not publish the teacher’s name due to the sensitivity of the matter.
– I got the feeling that some of the other Chinese students started to behave more reserved when they talked about China’s problems in his presence, says the teacher.
Previously, the same students had viewed China very critically, he emphasizes.
– One of them once told me briefly that “big brother” is watching over. As if someone had warned about it.
The teacher says that he has heard of similar cases in other subjects as well.
In these cases, students from mainland China have criticized Hong Kong students. Hong Kong used to have broad freedom of speech, but in recent years China has stifled the special administrative region’s democracy with legislation and surveillance.
China’s surveillance network is extensive
Vice dean of the University of Helsinki, China researcher Tiina Airaksinen can recall many cases over the years where surveillance of Chinese students has come to light.
– When students visited my reception more before the pandemic, many spoke very openly about these issues, he says.
Filming at lectures and seminars has also been frequent.
According to Airaksinen, the security unit of the University of Helsinki follows suspicious students if necessary. At least one such case is ongoing.
Airaksinen has held various positions at the university’s Asian Studies Department since 2007. He reminds that every Chinese who moves abroad is basically under surveillance.
Many study on a state scholarship, which may involve responsibilities, such as reporting to the embassy. According to Airaksinen, the Chinese Embassy in Finland keeps accurate records of students.
– They have to register at the embassy, and also regularly report on activities there, Airaksinen.
Supo: Finland is no exception
Special investigator of the Protection Police Teemu Naarajärvi does not directly say whether Supo is aware of cases of surveillance or pressure. He puts it this way:
– Finland is by no means an exception. This kind of monitoring of students is part of China’s practices around the world.
According to Naarajärvi, intelligence or security organizations may be behind it, or China may oblige civilians to do such work on their behalf.
Surveillance is not a new phenomenon, but China’s desire and ability to monitor its citizens has strengthened in recent years.
Naarajärvi brings up the corona protests in China a couple of years ago. Expressions of support were organized in many countries, including in Finland in Turku.
– It is likely that with the corona protests, the Chinese Communist Party will feel a greater need for a control measure like this.
There are no visible cases in Finland yet
Lauri Paltemaa says that the University of Turku’s Asian Research Unit has drawn up internal guidelines for the safety of students.
Paltemaa does not elaborate on the matter. According to him, the means bite better when they are not public.
He emphasizes that some of the students are supported by China even without pressure measures. In China, children are raised from an early age to respect the single-power Communist Party, and a large number of young people are very patriotic.
Around the world, the actions of Chinese students have led all the way to court.
Another year in Britain A 25-year-old man was charged after threatening a fellow studentwho distributed leaflets calling for freedom in China.
In 2019, students who defended democracy in Hong Kong and sided with Beijing got together in Australia at the University of Queensland.
– This kind of thing has been avoided in Finland, but maybe not forever, says Paltemaa.
“There are no longer so naive people at the University of Helsinki”
Particularly interesting from the point of view of student supervision are universities with teaching related to China. China specifically wants to limit critical discussion.
The largest number of Chinese citizens study at universities that teach in the technical field.
According to Tiina Airaknisen, there were problems in Helsinki especially at the time of the Confucius Institute, which was closed in 2023 and was managed in cooperation with China.
According to him, in all events related to China, there was someone watching how things were talked about. has also reported how the institute tried to limit the discussion of topics sensitive to China
– The University of Helsinki is no longer so naive, says Airaksinen.
Cooperation with China is still being carried out. LUT University of Technology has two joint bachelor’s programs with the Chinese Hebei University of Technology.
Some of the teachers in Lahti’s bachelor’s programs and a large part of the students come from China. LUT University’s Strategy Director Janne Hokkanen according to the campus, nothing referring to surveillance has come to light.
However, is aware that the Chinese university monitors its students’ interactions with journalists by checking all interview requests and journalists’ questions to students.
In addition, when interviewed a Chinese student at LUT University a couple of years ago, another person was present the whole time, whom the student called the teacher. According to the university, it is about a study counselor sent to Lahti by the Hebei University of Technology, who helps Chinese students in all practical matters.
LUT’s Hokkanen does not find the situation strange or worrying.
– If you want to think positively, then maybe this person was involved in supporting the student in an exciting situation.
According to Hokkanen, questions related to China are identified in LUT, but no actual measures have been taken to prevent surveillance.
– On a general level, it is of course quite predictable that China does this. But in practice, the university has no way to prevent such a thing.
Corrected at 7:30 a.m.: Changed a photo of LUT University’s Lahti campus to the story. Earlier in the story there was a picture of Lappeenranta.
Addition at 9:20 a.m.: A video about the Tiananmen Square Memorial Day added to the story.