The University of Sydney has started doing extensive background checks for all students running for the University Senate this year as management fears more pressure from the government on potential foreign interference.
Every two years one undergraduate student and one postgraduate student are elected to serve on the Senate and vote on University policy. The current representatives elected in 2022 are Ben Jorgensen (Liberal) and Benny Shen (Independent).
This year, four and six candidates are contesting the postgraduate and undergraduate position respectively.
In an email to all candidates after close of nominations last Tuesday, the University asked candidates for consent to provide their contact and biographical information to Managed Verification Services International, a compliance firm who has been tasked with doing the checks. Candidates were also asked to provide a headshot.
The lists the candidates will be checked against include police records but also the records of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) which keeps records on individuals who are banned from managing corporations.
A University spokesperson told Honi Soit that “for consistency and in line with best practice, we have extended our standard background checks for Senate Fellows and external members of committees to our student Senate candidates, and commenced this process late last year.”
The spokesperson said the process would be “confidential” and no personal information would be disclosed to voters.
Former SUPRA President Weihong Liang is running for the postgraduate spot and is widely expected to be one of the frontrunners due to his extensive network and experience in student government.
Liang was a member of the Chinese Communist Party for years and was trained as a poverty alleviation officer in the province of Xinjiang before returning to the University to start his postgraduate studies.
Liang told Honi that “I was not employed as a party officer, nor did I receive any party training. Before starting this job in 2019, I completed standard staff training to prepare for my government role.”
“Before returning to Sydney, I was working at ShanghaiTech University, not in Xinjiang. I resigned from my position as a poverty alleviation officer and secured a new job as a Human Resources officer at ShanghaiTech University. I found this role on my own, and it was unrelated to the party. I resigned from this position in July 2021 and returned to Sydney in January 2022.”
His Master’s Thesis, completed last year, examined the current President Xi Jinping’s policies in the province where a widely reported genocide has taken place against the minority Muslim Uyghur population, who still face heavy discrimination.
Sources inside the University told Honi that there were growing concerns Liang’s public candidacy would attract negative attention and would be weaponized by politicians.
The University is facing increasing pressure from the Opposition in Parliament who have called on Vice Chancellor Mark Scott to resign over alleged anti-Semitism on campus, a charge the University and student activists deny.
International students have been placed under particular pressure from political parties including being unfairly blamed for the housing crisis.
A source familiar with the process told Honi that the University has sought legal counsel on whether it can bar candidates from running if they have international political affiliations.
They also said the vetting was described to them at a similar level to a potential chancellor.
There is no suggestion that Liang is engaging in any foreign interference or supporting the actions of the Chinese government, only that the University is concerned about the optics of his candidacy.
The spokesperson said that the University “would expect disclosures such as membership of a political party to be the kind of information provided when these disclosures are requested.”
They also said “the University is not attempting to prevent any particular candidate for nominating for a Senate role. Membership to a political party would not exclude someone from being a viable candidate for a Senate role.”
All members of the Senate are required to maintain an up to date register of conflicts and interests in organisations or political parties and those disclosures are published on the University website.
Shen, who is running for reelection, told Honi that he “respects the practice [checks] as transparency and integrity are essential in any governance role, particularly within our university community that values trust and accountability.”
When asked, Shen said he was not a member of a domestic or international political party.
Undergraduate candidate Alexander Poirier, a current member of the ALP, told Honi that “candidates definitely should have to declare their political affiliations — it helps students have fully informed opinions of the person for whom they are voting.”
Poirier opposed any move from the University to bar candidates “with the exception of those who have breached academic honesty, done sexual violence and misconduct, and bullying, harassment, and discrimination.”
“Restricting the senate to those only with shared views of those in leadership is an incredibly steep slope and means a censoring of criticisms and campaigns for change,” he said.
“Preventing students with political affiliations would be hypocritical then to the many political donors on the senate (such as former Chancellor Belinda Hutchinson and her donations to the Liberal Party).”
Voting opens on October 8 and will run until October 24. Students will be sent an electronic voting link to their university email.
An earlier version of the story did not include comments from Weihong Liang, the article has been updated to reflect his response.
