Dear Flo

To assist with records management, please do not alter the subject line of this email.

Please accept this email as confirmation of receipt of your FOI request. We will forward your FOI request to the relevant Newcastle University department for processing.

Yours sincerely,

Information Governance Team
Executive Office
Newcastle University
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE1 7RU

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Dear Flo,

Thank you for your recent request for information. My sincere apologies
for the delay in responding. Please see the answers to your questions
below:

1) Has your organisation evaluated the possible risk posed by Chinese
Student and Scholar Associations given evidence that they have surveilled
other students, organised counter protestors and acted upon orders from
the Chinese Embassy?

Any form of harassment/bullying/intimidation - regardless of the motive -
is not tolerated by the university and we have policies and processes in
place deal with this kind of behaviour.  We also have Report and Support
which allows anonymous reporting. Please see the following link for more
information:

[1]https://www.ncl.ac.uk/wellbeing/about/su...

2) Are you aware of how many international students are receiving funding
from the Chinese Scholarship Council stream? The CSC is part of the
Chinese education ministry and organises foreign exchange programmes and
international studies for Chinese students.

We currently have 25 PhD students who are funded jointly by the University
and the China Scholarship Council. The university provides the tuition
fees and the CSC covers the living costs.

Have you investigated the possible risk posed to students involved with
this programme given recent evidence that agreements students sign include
pledges of loyalty to the party state and threaten students’ parents with
debt if they fail to complete their studies?

No, but all Newcastle University students can flag any concerns they have
about the wellbeing of themselves or of a family member which is impacting
them with our Student Wellbeing Service. All students are given
information about how to do this at the start of each academic year.

Has your institution ever had to deal with a case where a student was put
at risk of transnational repression and can you provide details of how
your institution dealt with this situation? Feel free to keep the identity
of the student anonymous.

No, we have no record of ever dealing with a case of this nature. However
over its long history Newcastle University has always held Sanctuary as
one of its key ideals, and  as a University of Sanctuary, provides a
welcome place of safety for those that have been forcibly displaced by
persecution and violence.

I hope that this is of use. If you are unhappy with the way we have
handled your request you can ask for an internal review. Details of how to
do this can be found at: [2]http://www.ncl.ac.uk/foi/access/complain...

If you are not happy with the outcome of the internal review, you then
have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner's Office
for a decision. Details of how to do this can be found at:
[3]http://ico.org.uk/concerns

Yours sincerely,

Information Governance Team

Executive Office

Newcastle University

Newcastle upon Tyne

NE1 7RU

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