Australian universities have rejected allegations made by the Chinese Ministry of Education that international students are not safe in Australia, and the Federal minister of Education, Dan Tehan, has issued a statement rejecting.
Group of Eight alliance, a group of eight elite universities in Australia, denies that Australian campuses are "dangerous" to Chinese students, saying the higher education sector has become the latest "victim" of diplomatic disputes between Australia and China.
"In the near future, major Australian universities are scheduled to open around July ," China`s Ministry of Education said on its website yesterday afternoon. The spread of the global new-crown pneumonia epidemic has not been effectively controlled, international travel and open campus risks. During the outbreak, there were several discriminatory incidents against Asian people in Australia. The Ministry of Education reminds the vast number of overseas students to do a good risk assessment, the current careful choice to go to Australia or return to Australia to study. "
Yet tom sun (Vicki Thomson), president of the alliance of eight prestigious schools, rejected china`s ministry of education`s suggestion that australia was unsafe for international students.
"When we come across such a statement, from our point of view, it is very disappointing and unreasonable, which gives rise to some degree of concern ," she said. "
"Australia`s multicultural success is based on our respect for all Australians and visitors, including international students, regardless of their race, religion, race or gender ," the Federal minister of Education, Tiehan, said in a statement late yesterday in response to China`s Ministry of Education`s warning of studying abroad. "
"We have succeeded in flattening the epidemic curve, which means that we are currently one of the safest countries for international students. "
"We reject China`s assertion that Australia is an unsafe destination for international students. "
opposition party shadow education minister bibbath (Tanya Plibersek) also defended australia`s record for international students.
"I`ve met dozens of senior leader, in our region (who studied in Australia) who continue to love their time in Australia and their lifelong relationships ," she said. "
"Australia is one of the safest overseas students in the world. "
Post-travel warning and early warning
Just a few days earlier, Friday night, the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Tourism issued a travel warning to the Chinese citizen to Australia, saying :" Recently, due to the impact of the new crown pneumonia epidemic, racial discrimination against Chinese and Asian people and violence behavior in Australia has increased significantly. The Ministry of Culture and Tourism reminds Chinese tourists to raise their awareness of safety and not to travel to Australia. "
Vice prime minister mark mccormack (Michael McCormack) and travel and trade minister birmingham (Simon Birmingham) have rejected warnings from the ministry. McCormack said Australia had "never had a wave of violence against Chinese ", while Birmingham said the travel warning had no basis.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs speaker, Hua Chunying, said at a regular journalist meeting Monday that China has a solid factual basis for China`s citizen travel reminders to Australia.
"There has been a proliferation of discrimination against China, Chinese and even Asian people in Australia over the past period, and there have been a lot of reports in the Australian media ," she said. Some Australian politicians and the media, for example, refer to Coronavirus as "China virus ", maliciously tampering with the national flag and emblem of China; many overseas Chinese in Australia suffer verbal insults and even siege injuries; some Chinese and Asian family property is destroyed and Chinese and Asian people suffer unfair treatment in their daily work; and graffiti or words with racial discrimination in China appear in Australian cities such as Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. According to the Australian human rights Commission, in the first quarter of this year, hundreds of Asian people had complained of racial discrimination, accounting for 25 percent of complaints. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported three racist attacks against Chinese families in the week of April. NSW received 241 complaints of racial discrimination between January and April, and Queensland Police received 22 complaints of racial discrimination between March and early May. Are these not convincing enough? "
Yet even as the international education association and the group of eight prestigious alliance in australia issued a travel warning to australia on friday night to lobby the chinese embassy, in canberra to persuade them to withdraw the warning, the ministry of education has warned australia of studying abroad for life, and this year`s number one, So far this year, China has warned only one country in Australia to study abroad.
