How can scholars tackle the rise of Chinese censorship in the West?

The Chinese are playing a long game whilst over-paid VC's fawn over setting up yet another Confucius Institute and the thoughts of the potential increases in income it might generate. Already placed party officials in UK universities crackdown on fellow Chinese Academics within those same UK universities, should they dare to speak out of turn, let alone talk about a 'sensitive' issue, threatening them directly and should that not work using threats against their family back in China.

Despite the abysmally low trust they've earned from their publics (just 12% of Americans trust their media) whenever Western media are criticized or banned, they never stop to ask, "Is it possible that we're entirely responsible, that our stuff SHOULD be banned?" It's time they–including academic media–did some soul-searching and 'fessing up. I reviewed some of the blocked CUP journal articles and concluded that, based on current evidence–their authors should have withdrawn them years ago. That CUP only withdrew them under pressure reflects badly on CUP's curatorship and tarnishes its record.

The Elsevier spokesman's response to my tail-end piece above: 'A spokesman for Elsevier says that the journal in question is “a Chinese-owned publication and they and the editor make all the editorial decisions”.' is wholly inadequate. The decisions regarding the 'correct' naming of Hong Kong and Taiwan are not editorial issues they are purely political. Hong Kong is a SAR and accepts its subservience to China; it is not a separate democratic country (indeed, it never was and we British ought to be ashamed of our former and extended colonial role there). Taiwan is a totally separate issue - it broke away from China (while the Koumintang considered that it was the legitimate leadership of Greater China) but set up a democratic and, eventually, a free and open society. While the number of countries recognising Taiwan (shame on those who don't) it is still recognised by most as a separate, democratic country. If the journal is Chinese owner why has it the Elsevier imprint? I am sure that the Chinese 'owners' need Elsevier more than Elsevier need, for example, some of the journals published out of he Beijing office. Where will this stop? What happens, for example, if I publish as article in the UK-based International Journal of Nursing Studies - IJNS - (by the way - who 'owns' that?) mentioning Taiwan? IJNS is very popular and published in by Chinese nurses. What will Elsevier's reaction be if we are asked to remove mention of Taiwan? Roll over as they have already demonstrably done. What pressure will the CPC try to exert on my two newly appointed Chinese (one from Hong Kong) editors on the Journal of Advanced Nursing regarding mention of Taiwan in my journal - by far the most popular academic nursing journal in China? Perhaps I should not throw stones as my journal is within the Wiley stable - so far I am assured that they would not expect this censorship - but these are early days.

The figure 554,500 Chinese students abroad is a massive understatement; it is merely the number that left China in 2016 to pursue studies abroad, and most stay longer than just one year. The total figure of Chinese students abroad was 700,000 already in 2014, and is today likely closer to a million: https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2016-10-25/an-international-education-for-chinese-students-abroad

It's not really that difficult for anyone who understands that "He who pays the piper calls the tune." If you don't want to dance a particular dance, don't take the money but likewise don't berate someone else for not paying you to do something they would rather you didn't do. The Chinese government can't impose its will on any community that doesn't let them and a bit of moral courage goes a long way - just not to Beijing.

@Brido RE: "The Chinese government can't impose its will on any community that doesn't let them and a bit of moral courage goes a long way - just not to Beijing." While I agree wholeheartedly about "moral courage", sometimes your condition "community that doesn't let them " can be impractical - as in Tibet, increasingly in HK, and foreseeably, perhaps, for Taiwan. The CPC seems to take the long view, and appears to be rather more subtle than recent Western administrations in pursuing its own aims . Keep an eye on China's African involvements as well as the machinations behind its sequestration of rocks and "low-tide elevations" in the South China Sea ...