中文摘要：

英国政治和国际关系分析师汤姆·福迪(Tom Fowdy)，2018年8月30日在中国国际电视台CGTN刊载的文章《澳大利亚对中国学生的妖魔化必须结束》（Australia's demonization of Chinese students must end）中写道，过去几周，由于香港抗议活动的影响，澳大利亚在教育层面对中国的气氛变得极其消极。正如7news.au的一篇报道所指出的那样，“中国共产党在澳大利亚大学校园里有稳固的立足点”，孔子学院等学生和项目现在被学术界和政府官员公开妖魔化。

福迪认为，虽然最近澳大利亚对中国的偏执和怨恨情绪高涨并不是什么新鲜事，但现在已经到了一个转折点，这似乎反映了典型的“黄祸”种族主义。这种歇斯底里的情绪在很大程度上源于当地人对中国观点的快速否定，他们认为学生的反应仅仅是政府支持的“干预”。对中国“民族接管”澳大利亚的恐惧，已深深植根于20世纪初澳大利亚的制度性种族主义之中，并促成了“白人澳大利亚”政策的诞生。在这一政策下，歧视和对白人定居者的偏爱盛行。尽管这一政策早已过时，但随着中国在世界上的作用日益增强，澳大利亚发现自己越来越无法容忍与北京在水平上进行更密切的互动。

中国的角色越来越被打上威胁性的烙印，反过来，中国人自己也越来越被当作替罪羊，认为是一种对中国产生负面影响的邪恶外国势力。加剧这些问题的是，许多中国学生无法理解国内学生的观点，认为他们的观点只是政府可以引导的方向。

事实证明，在媒体的推波助澜下，香港发生的事件成为了一个热点。大多数澳大利亚人，当然还有整个西方世界，都无法想象为什么中国学生会对香港的示威者感到愤怒和激情，并希望举行反抗议活动。由于自由主义意识形态通常会以不真实为由驳斥与其相左的观点，人们的反应是将这些事件标榜为不过是政府精心策划的宣传。在赞扬香港的激进主义的同时，媒体试图以最糟糕的方式描述这些示威活动，以引导公众舆论反对他们。其结果是，现在澳大利亚人对中国学生的蔑视正从排行榜上消失，所有上述“过度依赖”和“外国影响”的言论。

    但问题是，澳大利亚需要与中国建立稳定的关系，这是其国民经济平台的一部分，无法避免。此外，由于国内学生数量较低，如果情况恶化，大学将损失至多四分之一的收入。因此，尽管官方对中国的态度不佳，但政客们似乎承认与北京建立经济联系的重要性，甚至反对美国的贸易战。在这种情况下，尽管澳大利亚可能会继续与中国存在许多文化和意识形态上的差异，但堪培拉方面在与北京方面推进关系时必须保持平衡和冷静。

    福迪指出，对中国学生和其他教育关系的公开敌意和妖魔化是错误的、适得其反的和危险的。从长远来看，这场可称为“黄祸”的运动最终将被证明对国家利益的损害更大。

英文原文：

Over the past few weeks, largely owing to the fallout of Hong Kong protests, the atmosphere toward China on an educational level in Australia has become overwhelmingly negative.

As a report by 7news.au noted, "The Chinese Communist Party has a solid foothold on Australian university campuses," and as the report's content shows, students and programs such as Confucius institutes are now being openly demonized by academic communities and government officials.

Earlier this week, the state of New South Wales announced that it would be ending its partnership with Chinese sponsored Confucius institutes, accusing them of spreading propaganda and stifling freedom of speech.

Meanwhile, leading University of Sydney Professor Salvatore Babones and others have claimed that Australian universities are becoming over-reliant on Chinese students for revenue, while notorious anti-Chinese lecturers in the country such as Kevin Carrico claimed that "we should not let dictatorships teach our children."

Although the recent surge of paranoia and resentment of China in Australia is not new, it is now reaching a breaking point which seems to reflect classic "yellow peril" racism.

A great deal of the hysteria is rooted in locals being too quick to dismiss China's perspectives, rejecting reactions from students as mere state-sponsored "interference."

For a nation that relies heavily on economic incentives from China, it is going to become more and more difficult for Australia to adequately maintain stability in its relationship with Beijing, something which it cannot avoid as a pacific nation.

Australia has a long history of what we might call the"yellow peril" or an unfounded fear that the country would one day be overrun by a large number of Chinese who would be opposed and threatening to Western values.

A group of Chinese students pose for photos after graduating from a course in commerce at Sydney University, Sydney, Australia, October 12, 2017. /VCG Photo

The fear of a Chinese "ethnic takeover" in Australia has embedded itself in the institutional racism of the early 20th century Australian state and contributed to the creation of the"White Australia" policy whereby discrimination and a preference for white-only settlers were rife.

Although this policy is long gone, as China's role in the world increases, Australia has found itself increasingly unable to tolerate closer interaction with Beijing on level terms.

The role of China has increasingly been branded as threatening, and in turn, the Chinese themselves have been increasingly scapegoated as a malign foreign influence having a perverse effect on the country. What has exacerbated these problems is the inability to understand the perspective of many Chinese students within the country and dismissing their views as mere directions of the state.

The events in Hong Kong have proved to be a boiling point for this, not helped by the media. It has been inconceivable to most in Australia, and of course the Western world as a whole, why Chinese students may feel angry and passionate against Hong Kong demonstrators and want to hold counter protests.

As liberal ideology typically dismisses opinions contrary to its own as inauthentic, the response was to brand these events as nothing more than state-orchestrated propaganda. While glorifying Hong Kong activism, the media sought to portray these demonstrations in the worst possible light to steer public discourse against them.

The result is that now Australian contempt for Chinese students is being sent off the charts, with all the aforementioned talk of "over-reliance" and "foreign influence."

The problem is, however, that Australia necessitates stable ties with China as part of its national economic platform and cannot avoid it. Also, with domestic student numbers low, universities would stand to lose up to a quarter of their income if the situation deteriorates.

Local schoolchildren wave Australian and Chinese flags as Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Hobart, Australia, November 18, 2014. /VCG Photo

Thus, despite the unfavorable attitude toward China on an official level, politicians seem to acknowledge the importance of economic ties with Beijing, even disapproving of America's trade war.

In this case, while Australia will likely continue to have many cultural and ideological differences with China, Canberra must nevertheless pursue balance and levelheadedness in moving forward with Beijing.

The open hostility and demonization of Chinese students and other educational ties are wrong, counterproductive and dangerous. A red-scare or perhaps more suitably termed "yellow peril" campaign will ultimately prove more detrimental to the country's national interests in the long run.

（Author：Tom Fowdy is a British political and international relations analyst and a graduate of Durham and Oxford universities. He writes on topics pertaining to China, the DPRK, Britain, and the United States. ）