Chinese pro-democracy students in Australia have been frequently harassed and intimidated if they speak out on sensitive issues, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Wednesday.
Based on the 102-page report, Australian universities have failed to protect free speech and academic freedom of students from China.
Academics who criticize China and the Chinese Communist Party have also been targeted, Human Rights Watch said.
The fear caused by the intimidation has intensified in recent years, The Associated Press said, citing the HRW report. The intimidation includes classmates reporting the students' activities to Chinese officials.
As a result, many Chinese students and academics in Australia are forced to observe some form of restraint or self-censor, fearful their families in China might be targeted as well.
HRW said the perceived pressure is subverting the academic freedom of Australian universities.
According to the BBC, the country's higher education system depends heavily on fee-paying Chinese students, which accounted for around 40% of all foreign students in the country before the pandemic broke out.
The report describes Chinese government surveillance of pro-democracy students from the mainland and Hong Kong in Australian universities. HRW said Chinese students are fully aware such surveillance exists, leaving them petrified.
"People say they want to kill me. I can't tell what is true and what is not true," Ms. Zoo (who goes by a pseudonym) told the BBC. Zoo organized a protest against the CCP in Melbourne last year, BBC said.
Some parents in China had been questioned by Chinese authorities about the activities of students in Australia, and a returning student had been interrogated by the Hong Kong police about pro-democracy activities in Australia, HRW said.
Alan Tudge, Australia's education minister, said the report raised "deeply concerning issues", and the government would seek the counsel of a parliamentary panel on intelligence and security, Reuters said.
