Freedom. Study abroad far from home. This is what young people dream of all over the world. For many, this is only possible with a state grant. But what if that very scholarship prevents freedom?
There are more than 7,000 kilometers between China and Germany. Nevertheless, according to a joint research by DW and the investigative platform CORRECTIV in Germany, Chinese students are experiencing close controls by the Chinese state. This applies in particular to young researchers who come to Germany on a scholarship from the China Scholarship Council (CSC).
CSC grantees must sign in advance that they will not engage in activities that harm China’s security. They are required to report to the Chinese Embassy regularly to report back to them. Violators face penalties.
The CSC scholarship holders from China are welcome at at least 30 German universities. Some even maintain official partnerships with the China Scholarship Council, which reports to the Chinese Ministry of Education and is one of the main scholarship providers in the People’s Republic.
FU Berlin and LMU Munich maintain close CSC contacts
In 2005, for example, the Ludwig Maximilians University in Munich (LMU) signed an agreement on doctoral training. As of the end of 2022, 492 CSC grantees have participated in this program. There are currently around 40 per year.
“The CSC has so far been one of the most important academic partners in China for the LMU,” said the Munich University in writing on request. in one anniversary video on the 15th anniversary of the cooperation, those responsible at the LMU even celebrate the CSC as “one of the cornerstones of international relations” and convey “sincere thanks”.
A total of 487 CSC doctoral students have been enrolled at the Freie Universität (FU) in Berlin since 2009. According to its own statements, the FU maintains a “privileged partnership” and is “regarded as the preferred host institution for CSC-funded persons” by the CSC.
No “intimidation attempts” known
Apparently, the China Scholarship Council as an academic partner has not been questioned so far.
“Up to now, we have not been aware of any agreements between the Chinese scholarship holders and the Chinese government,” explains the LMU. Attempts to intimidate Chinese scholarship holders have never been reported. “For the LMU, academic freedom and freedom of opinion are fundamental values that we also exemplify and convey to international students.”
It is said from Berlin that no individual cases with corresponding contracts are known. “However, it is known that the scholarship recipients have to return to China after the end of the funding period or otherwise have to repay the scholarship.” It is by no means the only clause in the contract that raises questions.
The FU also emphasizes that it “defends the academic freedom of its members against foreign influence”. But how realistic is that in the case of China?
loyalty and allegiance to the state
CORRECTIV and DW have several CSC contracts from different years and for different countries. The most recent dates from 2021 and applies to a doctoral student’s stay at a German university. The document is nine pages long in the Chinese original and was translated for this research and compared with the other contracts. The differences are minimal.
Two pages from a blank 2018 China Scholarship Council contract published by Johns Hopkins University in the United States
The focus is on the commitment to absolute loyalty to the state: the CSC scholarship holder undertakes to “develop a sense of responsibility for the mission, to return to China and to serve the country”. He undersigned “not to engage in activities harmful to the interests and security of the motherland.” The scholarship holder, it goes on to say, “must consciously protect the honor of the motherland and follow the instructions of the embassies (consulates) abroad.”
In concrete terms, this means that the doctoral student must report to the Chinese embassy or the nearest Chinese consulate no later than ten days after arriving in Germany and maintain “frequent contact”.
He is obliged to regularly document his academic progress to the embassy or consulate, which apparently includes obtaining information from third parties. The grantee must also “immediately update” information about their academic mentors.
Upon return, the grantee is required to reside in China for at least two years in order to “serve” the country. Only then does the contract, which also extends to relatives and friends, expire.
family in confinement
Two guarantors are appointed in advance for each CSC scholarship holder, who are prohibited from leaving China for a period of more than three months during the scholarship. In the event of breaches of contract clauses, these guarantors are held jointly liable – personally and financially.
This picture from 2016 shows the importance of international exchange for China: The then Chinese Deputy Prime Minister Liu Yandong came to Berlin and welcomed Chinese students at Freie Universität
This can already occur if the scholarship holder fails to complete the academic achievements or if the scholarship is terminated prematurely without a valid reason. Then, in addition to the funding amount, there is also a penalty fee. To put this into perspective: a four-year scholarship is equivalent to around 75,000 euros.
Chinese “control mania”
The China expert Mareike Ohlberg works for the Asia program of the German Marshall Fund. For them, the CSC agreement above all demonstrates the Chinese Communist Party’s “mania for control” – right down to clear calls for mobilization: “People are actively encouraged to intervene if anything happens that could not be in the interest of the country.”
The worst breach of contract is to harm China’s national interests. “This is (in the contract) before possible participation in crimes, in other words, before murder. China is clearly setting its priorities,” Ohlberg analyses.
But what falls under the activities that harm Chinese interests is deliberately left open. Just like the possible consequences. Ohlberg’s conclusion: “The Chinese are not free abroad either, but should continue to be under the Party’s observation.” The result is a climate of fear that leads to self-censorship.
In 2019, Chinese students in Cologne demand Hong Kong’s incorporation into China. Pro-Chinese demonstrators need not fear any repercussions from the Chinese state
A young man who has signed a CSC contract himself tells CORRECTIV about his fears for his family. About the fact that he would never demonstrate in Germany because the embassy reacted “very strictly”. And he tells of a nightmare in which he was interrogated immediately after his return at the airport: “I’m asked if I know this or that person. I always say yes, but that I don’t know what they did.” Conversations with five other Chinese students unrelated to the CSC reflect the same fear of the Chinese surveillance state.
CSC – strictly following the course of the Communist Party
In the past five years, the CSC has sent 124,000 scholarship recipients abroad, according to its secretary general, Sheng Jianxue. To ensure the success of the government scholarship program, Sheng emphasized just last December: “First of all, we must insist on arming our minds with (head of state and party leader) Xi Jinping’s socialist ideology with Chinese characteristics in the new era.” The central task is to secure and strengthen the rule of the party.
DW and CORRECTIV have repeatedly contacted the China Scholarship Council in Beijing and the Chinese Embassy in Berlin. All inquiries have so far remained unanswered.
No response from the Chinese embassy – despite multiple inquiries from DW and CORRECTIV
German reactions to CSC contracts
For Kai Gehring, chairman of the committee for education and research in the German parliament, the CSC contracts are “incompatible with the Basic Law”, which guarantees the freedom of science: “Prescribed loyalty to the one-party system and patriotic sentiment, as well as making family liability in the event of alleged breach of contract collaborative, independent research driven by curiosity, free spirit, and creativity is impossible.”
But who would have to draw the conclusions from this? When asked by DW and CORRECTIV, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) informed DW and CORRECTIV that it was aware “that the China Scholarship Council demands ideological conformity from its scholarship holders.”
The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which also awards scholarships and has been cooperating with the CSC for many years, explains when asked that such CSC contracts reflect the reality in China, “in which universities have increasingly had to meet ideological requirements for several years.” However, the DAAD is not aware of any specific contract content.
The freedom of science
In Germany, the Basic Law protects science from political influence. Therefore, according to the Ministry of Education, it is up to the German universities:
“From the point of view of the BMBF, it is important that the receiving institutions in Germany are aware of the possible constraints that CSC scholarship holders may be under and ensure that the constitutionally enshrined freedom of opinion and science also applies to this group of people can be freely developed.”
The LMU in Munich and the FU in Berlin have indicated that they are doing just that – while individual German professors report on their Chinese students’ fear of denunciation and surveillance. According to DW information, security circles are also observing a “forced connection” between Chinese students and the state – above all through the control of CSC scholarship holders.
In Sweden, Denmark and Norway, where reports about the problematic CSC contracts have also appeared since the beginning of the year, have now reacted and suspended their cooperation with the CSC.
Editorial assistance: a DW colleague who, out of concern for her family, wished not to be mentioned by name
Editor: Sandra Petersmann