Documents seen by the BBC have unveiled a campaign of harassment and intimidation orchestrated by Chinese authorities directed at UK’s Sheffield Hallam University to suppress its sensitive research regarding alleged human rights abuses. The allegations primarily concern the treatment of Uyghur Muslims in the Xinjiang region, where claims of forced labor have been brought to light.
As per accounts from university staff, individuals who identified themselves as agents of China’s National Security Service threatened researchers and demanded the cessation of their investigations. Access to university websites was blocked in China, severely impacting its recruitment of Chinese students and escalating intimidation over more than two years.
In an internal email dated July 2024, university officials remarked that trying to maintain their business dealings with China while publishing critical research had become untenable. The situation escalated to the point that the UK government, alerted to the issue, conveyed a warning to China regarding its interference in academic freedoms.
Prof. Laura Murphy, leading the research on Uyghur labor conditions, detailed her experiences to the BBC, lamenting that her academic freedom was traded off for economic interactions with China. Following significant pressure from Beijing, the university decided against publishing critical findings on forced labor in early 2025, prompting Murphy to initiate legal action for the apparent suppression of her academic work.
Sheffield Hallam subsequently apologized to Prof. Murphy and has offered to resume her research. University officials acknowledged that their earlier decision stemmed from a convoluted mix of circumstances, including concerns over professional indemnity insurance amid ongoing defamation suits.
The broader implications of these events raise concerns regarding the vulnerability of UK universities to foreign pressures, particularly from China. Baroness Helena Kennedy expressed apprehension over the potential limitations on academic research stemming from financial dependencies on Chinese student enrollments.
