Cambridge Uni denies China ties after ambassador urges students to ‘serve the motherland’

Cambridge University has denied reliance on China after China’s ambassador to the UK told students to “serve the motherland” in a recent visit.

Meeting with a group of 20 Chinese students, the ambassador them they should “take patriotism [for China] as the foundation” of their studies at Cambridge.

Following the meeting, the University of Cambridge has since confirmed that it “is not and never has been dependent on China”.

Visiting the University of Cambridge earlier this month, the Chinese Ambassador to Britain, Zheng Zeguang, spoke to students about China. During the meeting, Ambassador Zheng told the students that they should “serve the motherland as soon as they finish their studies” as well as “become pillars of the country who are capable of shouldering heavy responsibilities”.

He also told the group of students that they should “take patriotism [for China] as the foundation” of their studies at Cambridge. According to China’s UK embassy, Zheng inspired students to “love the country, study hard, [and] stay safe and support each other”.

Zheng also held talks with vice-chancellor professor Deborah Prentice about “mutually beneficial cooperation between Cambridge and Chinese universities”.

According to the Chinese Embassy, Professor Prentice also highlighted Cambridge’s commitment to “the prospect of continuing to develop mutually beneficial cooperation with Chinese universities” during the meeting.

The university of Cambridge has since denied any reliance on China. A spokesperson for the University of Cambridge told The Tab: “Like many other universities, we regularly welcome overseas ambassadors who ask to visit students from their countries.

“The University of Cambridge is not and never has been dependent on China. Less than one per cent of our annual research grant is derived from China.”

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Currently, there are around 2,000 Chinese students studying at the University of Cambridge. During the 2022/23 academic year, over 154,000 Chinese students studied in the UK, contributing around £6 billion to the economy.

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