Universities in Beijing are tightening security, closing venues to foreign scholars, and sending Chinese students home ahead of the Olympics.
Professors and students say there is no apparent citywide directive on university security, and regulations vary from one university to the next. But over the past few weeks, as China has swung into gear for the August Olympics, many were surprised to learn of strict new rules restricting access to some campuses and requiring students to wait out the Games in their home provinces.
“There are barriers and security guards at every major street crossing and at the entrance to every building,” said a professor at Peking University, which is playing host to table-tennis events. The university is among several in Beijing to institute new identification requirements.
In mid-July, students and staff members at these universities were instructed to apply for photo-identification cards. Since July 20, the campuses have been closed to outsiders, including guests of professors and administrators.
Other universities have been quietly sweeping dorms, telling some students to pack their bags and return after the Games.
“They put a notice in the dorm telling everyone not in classes this summer to leave by July 4,” said Emilio Liu, a third-year student at Beijing Jiaotong University, which is near Olympic Stadium but is not the site of any events. “It’s like a ghost school now. It’s really empty.”
Colleges with populations the Chinese government deems sensitive are apparently receiving extra scrutiny. Designated minority universities, which serve groups like Tibetans and Uighurs, are conspicuous targets.
“They’ve been clearing out the dorms,” said an American scholar at Central University for Nationalities, in Beijing, a minority-serving university that briefly became a center of political protest this spring. In March, following a clash between Tibetan monks and Chinese forces in Lhasa, dozens of students staged a sit-in, prompting heightened security.
Colleges outside of Beijing have been affected as well. In Shanghai, Fudan University has reportedly closed its guesthouse to foreigners.
Tracing the crackdowns to their source is difficult.
“Everybody denies there is such a thing,” said a longtime foreign resident of Beijing who is familiar with Olympics organizing efforts. “Many of the instructions are delivered either verbally or on a white sheet of paper without a heading.”
http://chronicle.com Section: International Volume 54, Issue 47, Page A18