UNSW Canberra Restricts Research Collaborations With China Amid Growing Military Tensions

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra, a key academic partner for the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), has moved to restrict research collaborations with China

The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra has taken steps to limit research collaborations with China, including prohibiting visits by Chinese academics to its Canberra campus, according to ABC News.

An internal message sent to UNSW Canberra's academic schools states that the university will no longer lead projects involving Chinese universities.

Several postgraduate courses offered at UNSW Canberra are linked to the Australian Defence Force (ADF), including the Master of Explosive Ordnance, which is taught to defence staff at Australia's new Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) Enterprise.

In recent weeks, UNSW Canberra has informed its staff that "collaborative research projects involving academics affiliated with Chinese universities will not be supported." However, UNSW Sydney is not affected by this decision, according to ABC News.

The university, which remains one of the ADF's primary tertiary education providers, still offers lucrative PhD scholarships to Dongguan University in Guangdong province, ABC News reports.

Since the 1980s, UNSW has provided academic education to officer and midshipman cadets at ADFA in Canberra, as well as postgraduate programs for Defence civilians and other students. Until recently, a significant portion of the international students at UNSW Canberra were from China, according to ABC News.

In a statement to the ABC, UNSW Canberra said that any university-level collaborations with countries or institutions considered high-risk are "thoroughly risk-managed" by several government agencies.

The university highlighted its commitment to security and compliance, noting that UNSW Canberra's unique position within the Australian Defence Force Academy necessitates stringent oversight, according to ABC News.

Meanwhile, shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson has welcomed UNSW Canberra's recent decision but urged the institution to further scrutinize its staff, according to ABC News.

Paterson called for the removal of any academics with ties to the Chinese government, particularly those with access to the next generation of ADF officers, according to ABC News.

"Three years on from the intelligence committee's inquiry into national security risks in higher education, we still have much more work to do," Senator Paterson said, according to ABC News.

"Of all our universities, UNSW's campus at ADFA should be the most secure it's where our future defence force leaders are trained. No academic with ties to the Chinese government should be employed there with access to the next generation of ADF officers," Senator Paterson added, according to ABC News.

This move follows concerns raised last year by Australian universities regarding the relaxation of defence export rules for AUKUS partner nations, according to ABC News.

The changes warned of strict new penalties for unauthorized collaborations with researchers outside the US or UK, further complicating international academic relations, according to ABC News.

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