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Opinion | Pro-China nationalists are using intimidation to silence critics. Can they be countered without stifling free speech?
- The Chinese Communist Party encourages the conflation of the concepts of ‘China’ with the state, the party and the Chinese people
- As a result, criticisms of the Chinese government can be interpreted by some nationalists as an attack on the entire country and its people
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Last month, the University of New South Wales came under harsh criticism after its media team deleted an article and tweet in which Elaine Pearson, the Australia director of Human Rights Watch, expressed concern over China’s curtailment of human rights in Hong Kong.
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The tweet enraged some in the Chinese student community in Australia, who organised an aggressive campaign targeting UNSW’s social media channels.
Pearson later said, the incident shook her: “The pro-Chinese Communist Party students certainly don’t have to agree with my remarks. But I was still somewhat shocked at the ferocity of their response, and disappointed at the university’s feeble reaction.”
As I have written in a policy brief for China Matters, the rhetoric and actions of pro-China nationalists create two contrasting problems for Chinese people living in Australia.
First, these nationalists are intimidating people who are critical of the Chinese Communist Party, or China more broadly. Second, the Australian media have argued or insinuated that those who merely express support for Chinese policies must be brainwashed or threats to democracy.
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Both of these problems disproportionately affect the Chinese diaspora in Australia.
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