A ¡°sudden spike¡± in attacks on academics and students in China is among the trends putting academic freedom at increasing risk globally, according to new research.

, the annual report from the Scholars at Risk network, details 324 attacks on universities, their staff and students across 56 countries in 2018-19, compared with 294 in the preceding 12 months.

Clare Robinson, SAR¡¯s advocacy director, told?Times Higher Education?that the report ¡°captures only a small, albeit growing, sample of attacks on higher education communities occurring worldwide¡±.

Twenty-six of the incidents listed occurred in China, up from 20 in 2017-18, which ¡°may in part be due to the intensified crackdown on student activists, including members of campus ¡®Marxist¡¯ groups and those advocating for better factory worker conditions,¡± Ms Robinson said.

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The report documents cases of professors who lost jobs or were even imprisoned, including those who faced professional retaliation ¡°after being reported to [Communist] Party officials by so-called student informants¡±. Ms Robinson added that repression of student activism reached a level ¡°not seen in mainland China for many years¡±.

¡°Should these pressures continue to build and should more universities reconsider their partnerships with Chinese academic institutions, Chinese university reputations could indeed take a hit,¡± she said. ¡°Given China¡¯s important role on the world stage and the academic potential China¡¯s scholars and students offer, we all have a reason to press government and higher education authorities ¨C in and outside China ¨C to ensure academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and other values we should expect of ¡®world-class¡¯ universities.¡±

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In India, the number of incidents rose from 13 to 22, as national political tensions manifested into on-campus conflicts. Some have resulted in violence, property damage, campus closures, and the arrests of both scholars and students. ¡°While these types of incidents are not necessarily new, the volume of attacks in India in recent years warrants a closer look at challenges facing scholars and students in the country,¡± the report says.

Concerns about the US stand out in a report whose incidents are otherwise mostly in non-democratic or developing nations. ¡°Over the past year, US authorities have denied or cancelled visas of a number of Chinese students and scholars, apparently based on sweeping allegations of scientific espionage and intellectual property theft,¡± Ms Robinson said. ¡°US authorities have also blocked scholarly travel in retaliation for other nonviolent expression related to Palestine.¡±

joyce.lau@timeshighereducation.com