Chinese Students and Scholars Association

The Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) (Chinese: 中国学生学者联合(谊)会; pinyin: zhōngguó xuéshēng xuézhě liánhé (liányí) huì) is the official organization for overseas Chinese students and scholars registered in most colleges, universities, and institutions outside of the People's Republic of China. The associations in different institutions share a same name. The primary function of CSSA is mostly responsible for helping away-from-home Chinese in their life, study, work, and other issues, to bring Chinese students together on campus. CSSA also serves as a bridge between the Chinese and other communities, spreading Chinese culture. The groups typically host events such as annual Chinese New Year galas, holiday celebrations as well as academic forums and talent recruitment competitions tied to the Thousand Talents Plan.[1][2][3]

The CSSA started in late 1970s when China started sending students to study overseas. In August 1989, representatives from over 200 CSSAs gathered in the University of Illinois at Chicago for the First Congress of Chinese Students and Scholars, established their national association as the now-defunct Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars (IFCSS) as a response to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests. IFCSS' stated goal was to promote democracy in China and advance the interests of Chinese students abroad.

CSSAs became a subject in vice president Mike Pence's October 2018 policy speech on China.[4]

Control and funding
See also: Chinese intelligence activity abroad and Chinese information operations and information warfare

A 2018 report by the United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission stated, "[d]espite the useful social services CSSAs provide for their members, they receive guidance from the CCP through Chinese embassies and consulates — governmental ties CSSAs frequently attempt to conceal — and are active in carrying out overseas Chinese work consistent with Beijing’s United Front strategy."[5]

The CSSAs are collectively overseen by the Chinese Communist Party's United Front Work Department.[5][6] Individual CSSAs are sponsored and monitored by Chinese embassy and consular officials, as the Chinese government has a consistent policy toward Chinese students and scholars since 1990.[7][8][9] In 2005, a local CSSA in Leuven was reported to be used as a front organization for industrial espionage.[10] Documents and emails obtained by Foreign Policy in 2018 showed that the Georgetown University CSSA accepted funding from the Chinese Embassy in Washington, D.C., which amounted to roughly half its total annual budget.[3] A former CSSA-Pittsburgh chairman said on Sina-Weibo that their chapter received a US$6,000 yearly budget from the Chinese consulate.[11] The organization has been criticized for trying to control and monitor the speech of Chinese students and professors in Western countries, and for involvement in espionage in various countries including Canada, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Germany, and the United Kingdom.[12][13][10][14]

Reactions

In 2011, Cambridge University disbanded their CSSA chapter after the society's president, Chang Feifan (常非凡), announced that she would enter a second term without election, and refused to provide the university a copy of the society's constitution. Some students and staff alleged that the CSSA was controlled by the Chinese embassy, and that the embassy had advised the CSSA president to continue her reign without holding an election.[15]

In 2015, Columbia University disbanded their CSSA chapter after violations of multiple financial and student organizational policies.[16]

In 2016, President of the Australian National University CSSA chapter Tao Binru publicly confronted the university pharmacy for stocking The Epoch Times, a newspaper known for its opposition to the Chinese Communist Party. The pharmacist claimed to be intimidated by Tao's body language and allowed him to throw out the newspapers. The previous year, Tao had told Chinese media that, "‘What [Chinese students] day and night long for is the ‘China Dream’ that General Secretary Xi Jinping speaks of – serving the rejuvenation of the nation and the people with unremitting efforts. Even though our bodies are overseas, our hearts are tied to the Motherland’."[17][18]

In a 2017 New York Times article, chapters of CSSA were described as having "worked in tandem with Beijing to promote a pro-Chinese agenda and tamp down anti-Chinese speech on Western campuses."[13] The University of California, San Diego chapter is protesting against the university's decision to invite the 14th Dalai Lama to speak at its 2017 commencement.[19]

In 2017, the CSSA chapter at the University of Maryland attacked a commencement speech delivered by a Chinese student, which praised freedom of speech, following similar criticism of the speech by Chinese state media.[20]

In 2019, Human Rights Watch called for closer monitoring of CSSAs in response to threats to academic freedom.[21]

In 2019, the CSSA chapter at McMaster University accused a local Uighur-Canadian activist of fomenting "separatism" after her speech drawing attention to human rights violations in Xinjiang.[22][23] The CSSA chapter subsequently had its status as a student organization revoked since its coordination with the PRC consulate was deemed a violation of student club rules.[24][25]

In 2020, Canada's National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians stated that the CSSA's "behavior may also pose a threat to freedom of speech and assembly."[26]

See also

References
  1. Joske, Alex (August 20, 2020). "Hunting the Phoenix: The Chinese Communist Party's global search for technology and talent". Australian Strategic Policy Institute. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  2. "CSSAs in USA". The Office of Educational Affairs of the Embassy of P.R.China in USA. Archived from the original on September 18, 2015. Retrieved October 9, 2015.
  3. Allen Ebrahimian, Bethany (February 14, 2018). "Chinese Government Gave Money to Georgetown Chinese Student Group". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2018.
  4. "Remarks by Vice President Pence on the Administration's Policy Toward China". October 4, 2018. Archived from the original on October 12, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  5. Bowe, Alexander (August 24, 2018). "China's Overseas United Front Work: Background and Implications for the United States" (PDF). United States-China Economic and Security Review Commission. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 9, 2018. Retrieved May 12, 2019.
  6. Molloy, Shannon (June 11, 2020). "China is infiltrating Australia on multiple fronts, from politics to business, via its powerful and covert United Front agency". News.com.au. Archived from the original on June 17, 2020. Retrieved June 11, 2020.
  7. Allen-Ebrahimian, Bethany (March 7, 2018). "China's Long Arm Reaches Into American Campuses". Foreign Policy. Archived from the original on June 7, 2019. Retrieved June 8, 2019.
  8. "Directive on Policy Toward Chinese Students and Scholars in the United States and Canada, March 1990", in Nicholas Eftimiades, Chinese Intelligence Operations, (Annapolis MD: Naval Institute Press 1994): 117-39.
  9. Christodoulou, Mario; Rubinsztein-Dunlop, Sean; Koloff, Sashka; Day, Lauren; Bali, Meghna (October 13, 2019). "Chinese student group's deep links to Beijing revealed". ABC News. Archived from the original on October 13, 2019. Retrieved October 14, 2019.
  10. Luard, Tim (July 22, 2005). "China's spies come out from the cold". BBC News. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  11. "Sina-Weibo backup via Weibo Kankan". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on June 6, 2017. Retrieved June 6, 2017.CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  12. Corr, Anders (June 4, 2017). "Ban Official Chinese Student Organizations Abroad". Forbes. Archived from the original on June 4, 2017. Retrieved June 5, 2017.
  13. Saul, Stephanie (May 4, 2017). "On Campuses Far From China, Still Under Beijing's Watchful Eye". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 5, 2017. Retrieved May 5, 2017.
  14. "Li-Li Whuang poursuit sa thèse". Le Parisien. September 4, 2008. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  15. "Chinese Students & Scholars Association disaffiliated from University". Varsity. December 3, 2011. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  16. "Columbia University Closes CSSA". Archived from the original on October 15, 2018. Retrieved October 15, 2018.
  17. "WoroniIncident at University Pharmacy Highlights a Divided Chinese Community". Woroni. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  18. Wen, Alexander Joske and Philip (October 7, 2016). "The 'patriotic education' of Chinese students at Australian universities". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on August 19, 2019. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
  19. Horwitz, Josh (September 19, 2017). "China is retaliating against a US university for inviting the Dalai Lama to speak at graduation". Quartz. Archived from the original on December 15, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  20. Denyer, Simon; Zhang, Congcong (May 23, 2017). "A Chinese student praised the 'fresh air of free speech' at a U.S. college. Then came the backlash". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 1, 2017. Retrieved December 15, 2017.
  21. "China: Government Threats to Academic Freedom Abroad". Human Rights Watch. March 21, 2019. Archived from the original on January 14, 2020. Retrieved November 9, 2019.
  22. Chan, Holmes (March 3, 2019). "Exclusive: How Uighur activist Rukiye Turdush felt the long arm of the Chinese Communist party, in Canada". Hong Kong Free Press. Archived from the original on June 18, 2019. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  23. Shih, Gerry; Rauhala, Emily (February 14, 2019). "Angry over campus speech by Uighur activist, Chinese students in Canada contact their consulate, film presentation". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 5, 2019. Retrieved July 5, 2019.
  24. Churchill, Owen (September 26, 2019). "Chinese students' association loses status at Canadian university after protest of Uygur activist's talk was allegedly coordinated with Chinese consulate". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on October 13, 2019. Retrieved October 5, 2019.
  25. Churchill, Owen (November 5, 2019). "Chinese student association at McMaster University loses appeal, remains decertified after report of on-campus talk to consulate". South China Morning Post. Archived from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved November 5, 2019.
  26. Fife, Robert; Chase, Steven (March 12, 2020). "China, Russia conducting 'brazen' interference in Canada, intelligence committee warns". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on March 14, 2020. Retrieved March 15, 2020.
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