Higher Education and Research: China

(asked on 18th March 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the conclusion in the report by King's College London and the Harvard Kennedy School The China question: managing risks and maximising benefits from partnership in higher education and research, published on 9 March, that the UK "urgently needs to put in place a robust framework for engaging China in research and higher education".


Answered by
Lord Callanan Portrait
Lord Callanan
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
This question was answered on 31st March 2021

Her Majesty’s Government supports the sector to make informed decisions on international research collaboration and cooperates closely with universities, funding bodies and industry in protecting our higher education and research sector from interference. This is backed by a robust legal and regulatory framework including on exports, intellectual property and academic freedom and freedom of speech. We have strengthened protective measures and keep them under review. Trusted Research and the security guidelines commissioned by the Government and released by Universities UK are an important step to encourage secure partnerships and promote our values. We are pleased to see the university sector addressing these challenges and we will continue to work with the sector on implementing guidelines recommendations.

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