Securitising the university: lessons from China in the Xi Jinping era

This paper explores the extent to which Chinese higher education has become a national security concern under General Secretary Xi Jinping’s leadership. To do so, it draws on ‘second-wave’ securitisation theory, demonstrating the broader analytical value of this framework and highlighting its urgent relevance for understanding how higher education is increasingly being brought under the purview of national security across the globe. The paper analyses how Chinese universities have been transformed into arenas for ideological securitisation, where dissent and international collaboration are increasingly framed as threats to both regime and research security. Through an analysis of policy texts, state media reports and institutional practices, it examines how discursive constructs, such as the framing of ‘Western’ ideology as subversive, and the linking of those deemed to be internal ideological threats to this external threat, have legitimated the securitisation of Chinese universities. It also details the everyday or mundane security practices, including surveillance, training sessions and political education which have contributed to this process of securitisation. These developments are situated within a broader trend of rising nationalism and tightened control over knowledge production. The analysis underscores how the securitisation of higher education impacts academic freedom and creates barriers to international collaboration.