British media renders “over-reliance” on Chinese students, and British universities are generally reluctant to publicly agree with them.

According to the British “Daily Telegraph” report on the 22nd, schools in the “Russell Group” of the British university alliance, such as the University of Manchester, the University of Liverpool, the University of Sheffield and the University of Glasgow, all enrolled more than 5,000 Chinese students in the last academic year. The number of Chinese students enrolled in UCL is more than 10,000, accounting for 1/4 of the total number of students in the school.

According to Joseph Johnson, the brother of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and a member of the House of Lords, the “excessive concentration” of students from specific countries “has the potential to create dependencies[thatcouldunderminetheirfinancialresilience”)

Before Joseph’s remarks, the Truss government in the UK had publicly stated that it needed to deal with the growing influence from China. Had he not been forced to resign, Truss would have characterized China as a “threat” to the UK rather than a “systemic competitor”. The “Daily Telegraph” said that the Conservative Party’s “hawks” on China are expected to put pressure on the next prime minister to implement Truss’ attitude. But academics have warned that as a result, Chinese students may be reluctant to study in the UK, leading to a “funding crisis” at some universities. Joseph also called for the passage of the Higher Education Act, which would give the UK Office of Student Affairs a new role to monitor whether higher education institutions are sufficiently diverse in their overseas tuition income.

However, British universities are generally reluctant to publicly agree with the above views of Joseph et al. Professor Greer, President of Queen’s University Belfast in Northern Ireland, once told the Global Times reporter that the cooperation with China is not to absorb Chinese students and tuition fees, but to cooperate in scientific research between the two sides. It is for this reason that after the outbreak of the new crown pneumonia epidemic in the UK, the school took the lead in arranging chartered flights for Chinese students to come to the school to continue their studies.

In fact, the British media have been reporting on the financial pressure of British education. Just on the 23rd, the British “Observer” reported that 90% of primary and secondary schools in the UK will have no operating funds in the next school year due to the significant rise in energy bills and salary costs, citing survey data conducted by the British School Principals Association. Compared with primary and secondary schools, British universities can maintain their operations, and the tuition contribution of international students cannot be ignored.