Rumors of Student Informants Fuel Speech Concerns at Chinese Universities

A Taiwanese graduate student at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine says rumors of so-called “professional students” — alleged student informants who pose as ordinary students while monitoring classmates and teachers — have contributed to growing caution over classroom speech.

The existence of such covert operatives has not been independently established. However, China has previously used openly recruited student “information officers” to monitor classroom activity, and professors have faced disciplinary action after students reported their remarks.

Rumors of student informants

According to an Oct. 13 report by Radio Free Asia, Liu Minghao, a pseudonym used by a Taiwanese graduate student at Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, said teachers and students had privately discussed the alleged presence of “professional students” on campus.

“Some teachers told us Taiwanese students in private conversations that there were professional students in our class and that we should be careful [about] what we said, especially about sensitive topics, for fear of being reported,” Liu told RFA.

Liu said political and public-affairs topics were restricted in classroom discussions and controversial social issues were often avoided. He stressed that students could not identify the alleged monitors and that the information came from warnings and rumors circulating on campus.

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“They attend classes, eat in the cafeteria, take part in outdoor activities, and sometimes even complain about things, just like we do,” Liu said. “They look no different from ordinary students.”

RFA did not independently establish that people operating under the description of “professional students” were present at the university.

Liu also said a friend studying communications at a Beijing university had expected journalism classes to examine current social controversies but found that many politically sensitive topics were not discussed.

Student informants have been documented

While the latest allegations remain unverified, the use of student information officers at Chinese universities has been reported for years.

In a 2019 Voice of America report, former Chinese university lecturer Tan Song said universities operated both overt and covert channels for monitoring faculty members.

Tan said publicly recruited student information officers became increasingly common after 2012, with some universities describing the positions as a way to monitor teaching quality and promote education reform. He also alleged that separate, covert informants reported directly to security officials, although that part of his account could not be independently verified.

VOA has documented several cases in which Chinese professors were disciplined following reports about their classroom remarks.

In 2018, You Shengdong, a professor of international trade and economics at Xiamen University’s Tan Kah Kee College, said he was dismissed after students reported comments university officials regarded as politically inappropriate. VOA reported at the time that students later posted messages online defending him.

Other faculty members faced disciplinary measures during the same period. VOA reported in 2019 that Beijing University of Civil Engineering and Architecture associate professor Xu Chuanqing received an administrative demerit after students reported remarks comparing Chinese and Japanese students.

The same report said Zhongnan University of Economics and Law associate professor Zhai Juhong was stripped of her teaching qualifications and expelled from the Chinese Communist Party in 2018 after criticizing constitutional changes that removed presidential term limits.

VOA later reported that some Chinese universities openly recruited “student informants” tasked with reporting professors over politically sensitive remarks, including criticism of Communist Party policies.

National security rules encourage reporting

China has also expanded its broader national-security reporting system.

The country’s revised Counter-Espionage Law took effect on July 1, 2023. It requires state bodies, businesses, public institutions and other organizations to implement counterespionage safeguards and educate personnel about national security responsibilities.

The law also provides protection and rewards for people who report suspected espionage or make significant contributions to counterespionage efforts.

Under regulations published through China’s official national-security reporting platform, verified reports can qualify for cash awards. Rewards range from less than 10,000 yuan for smaller contributions to more than 100,000 yuan for cases judged to have made an exceptionally significant contribution.