去年八月，一位资深同事告诉我，谢菲尔德哈勒姆大学（SHU）不会发表我团队揭露维吾尔强迫劳动的研究，并准备将数十万英镑的拨款退回，而不愿让未来项目带有海伦娜·肯尼迪中心的印记。信息自由文件显示，中国安全机构在2024年4月和八月通话前几周曾到访SHU的北京招生办公室——确认由于HKC论文在网站上可访问，shu.ac.uk在中国受限，并指示该负责人分享即将与英国同事的对话细节。大学记录还称，其保险公司不会为社会科学的诽谤风险提供承保。
该研究记录了政府强制劳动影响至少五分之一的维吾尔族和哈萨克族人口（>20%），并对太阳能组件、服装、汽车、电子、化工和关键矿产等全球供应链构成风险。管理层大量关注中国学生市场：沟通受限、中国办事处牌照续期、潜在抵制和学位认定威胁，并得出结论保留中国业务与发表研究“水火不容”。在2024年9月，大学记录称已将不发表研究最终阶段的决定通报国家安全部门并确认校长将辞任；此后“关系改善”，对员工的威胁似乎解除。
在我威胁采取法律行动后，SHU让步、道歉并允许我继续研究，但许多研究者负担不起法律救济而保持沉默。学术自由要求大学保护学者——通过应有的赔付保险、行政和财政支持——并要求民主政府恢复公共资助、禁止与外国安全机构的直接或间接接触，并在施压时干预。向外国国家安全要求妥协会腐蚀机构、自由和知识的生成。
In August last year a senior colleague told me Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) would not publish my team’s research exposing Uyghur forced labour and was prepared to return hundreds of thousands of pounds in grant funding rather than have future projects bear the Helena Kennedy Centre imprimatur. Freedom-of-information documents show Chinese security agents visited SHU’s Beijing recruitment office—in April 2024 and again weeks before the August call—confirmed shu.ac.uk was restricted in China because of HKC papers and instructed the officer to share details of upcoming conversations. The university recorded that its insurer would not cover social-science defamation risk.
The research documents government-imposed forced labour affecting at least a fifth of the Uyghur and Kazakh population (>20%) and risks to global supply chains for solar modules, clothing, cars, electronics, chemicals and critical minerals. Administrators focused extensively on the Chinese-student market: communication blocks, China-office licence renewal, potential boycotts and degree-recognition threats, concluding that retaining business in China and publishing the research were "untenable bedfellows." In September 2024 the university recorded that it informed the National Security Service of its decision not to publish a final phase and that the chancellor would stand down; relations then "improved" and the threat to staff appeared removed.
After I threatened legal action SHU conceded, apologised, and allowed me to continue the research, but many researchers cannot afford legal remedies and stay silent. Academic freedom requires universities to protect scholars—through indemnity insurance, administrative and financial support—and democratic governments to restore public funding, forbid contact with foreign security agencies, and intervene when pressure is applied. Compliance with foreign state security demands corrodes institutions, freedoms and the production of knowledge.