A leading Hong Kong institution has become the first to partner with a district-level authority in China to create a?research spin-off?on the nation¡¯s mainland.

The move was described by the Chinese University of Hong Kong as a natural extension of existing ties, but has prompted critics to warn that universities in Hong Kong risk being ¡°assimilated¡± into Chinese higher education.

In a ceremony last week formalising the establishment of the CUHK Shanghai Centre, vice-chancellor Rocky Tuan called its establishment ¡°a key strategy for the university¡¯s development plan on the mainland¡±.

¡°Our decades-old heritage as a bridge between China and the world, coupled with our strong international outlook mean we do not see it as a choice of ¡®mainland China or¡¯, but rather a complementary equation,¡± a spokesperson told Times Higher Education.

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The centre will be a physical space to ¡°promote exchanges between alumni, entrepreneurs, scholars and students from Shanghai and Hong Kong¡±, he said, noting many of CUHK¡¯s 250,000-strong alumni community are on the mainland and ¡°longstanding partnerships with major universities in Shanghai including Fudan and Shanghai Jiao Tong¡±.

But some academics have expressed concern over the implications of the move, which they said comes amid a tightening political climate in Hong Kong and a broader push by Beijing to bring the island¡¯s institutions into its embrace.

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¡°The speed to take back Hong Kong universities and assimilate them into mainland China by the [Chinese Communist Party] is quicker than I expected,¡± said Futao Huang, a higher education scholar at Hiroshima University, adding ¡°there is little doubt that Hong Kong universities would eventually become part of national HE and research in mainland¡±.

He said that the CUHK move makes sense given its ¡°explicit mission to contribute for mainland China¡± as well as the existing environment in Shanghai¡¯s Yangpu district, which is home to ¡°many good universities and research institutes¡±.

Still, he worried that ¡°more restrictive measures¡± would be imposed on institutions from the island that do not collaborate with mainland China as they encounter pressure to ¡°show their loyalty¡± to the CPC.

Philip Altbach, a professor at Boston College¡¯s Center for International Higher Education, agreed that mainland authorities see Hong Kong¡¯s universities as ¡°a key element in the ¡®sinofication¡¯ of Hong Kong¡±.

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¡°There is much debate concerning whether Hong Kong¡¯s universities will, in time, simply be the same as other mainland Chinese universities ¨C things do seem to be moving in that direction,¡± he said. ¡°If Hong Kong¡¯s universities lose their distinctiveness and characteristics of academic freedom, independence, and internal governance, they will of course be greatly weakened.¡±

Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London, struck a more upbeat note.

¡°Shanghai is as good a location as it can be on the mainland for a [Hong Kong] university to build an offshore operation¡± because of its ¡°strong economy and relatively relaxed environment ¨C by mainland standards ¨C for scholarly collaboration¡±, he said.

But he also noted that ¡°even universities in Shanghai are now getting more tightly controlled by the CCP¡±.

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Amid a process that many scholars view as inevitable, greater collaboration between universities on both sides could potentially help institutions on the island manoeuvre within China¡¯s tighter political control, some scholars have suggested.

¡°There have always been many mainland students doing doctoral research at both [the University of Hong Kong] and CUHK,¡± said Ruth Hayoe, a professor researching Chinese higher education at the University of Toronto.

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¡°They are able to function well, with good international connections as well as a deep understanding of the Chinese system and where the red lines and constraints are and how to get around them.¡±

pola.lem@timeshighereducation.com