WASHINGTON, DC - The growth of U.S.-China educational partnerships in recent years has raised the question of academic freedom and whether American learning - characteristic for its liberal nature and regard for universal values - is being compromised in favor of multi-million dollar subsidies.

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While such collaborations are vital in today's globalized world and recognizing China's status as an emergent world power, the potential infringement on the right to self-expression guaranteed under the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment is a cause for concern, said Wellesley's College's Thomas Cushman.

The issue, which was the central theme of a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing chaired by U.S. Rep. Christopher Smith (R-N.J.) in Washington on Thursday, comes amid China's renewed efforts at promoting collectivism.

University of California Chinese-language professor Perry Link says that Chinese students and China-vetted educators in the U.S. are often pressured into self-censorship lest they face punishment back home.

China has been seeking to establish itself in the academe and at the same time, aiming to fulfill its propagandist goals, which had been openly admitted by Minister of Propaganda Liu Yunshan in 2010 when he called for renewed efforts on "international propaganda battles" against human rights, Tibet, Taiwan and Xinjiang.

Additionally, the AAUP Committee A on Academic Freedom and Tenure has claimed that Confucius Institutes in the U.S. function as "an arm of the Chinese state" abroad and are thusly supervised by the China-run agency, Hanban, under the chairmanship of a Politburo member.

The project, which has been largely funded by the Chinese government, accounts for more than 95 Confucius Institutes across the U.S. and several satellite campuses in China, including the New York University (NYU) in Shanghai and Duke University in Kunshan.

Academic freedom becomes even more problematic for American universities in China where school administrators are faced with the challenge of abiding by state laws while simultaneously maintaining academic independence and integrity.

Last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping took a harsh stand against "reactionary intellectuals" when he issued a list of forbidden topics central to Western democratic discourse. Among those topics include issues on civil and political rights, judicial independence, freedom of expression, and crony capitalism, the Global Post relayed.

NYU President John Sexton has argued that the right to academic freedom and the right to political expression are distinct from each other.

Nevertheless, Duke University President Richard Brodhead suggested that certain concessions needed to be made, explaining that Beijing does not conform to the same model of rights granted to U.S. citizens under the First Amendment.

"If you want to engage in China, you have to acknowledge that fact," he said.

According to the Institute of International Education, the educational collaborations have so far injected some US$27 billion in revenues to the U.S. economy annually, owing in part to the 274,000 Chinese students in the country.

TagsConfucius Institute, Satellite campus, NYU Shanghai, Duke University Kunshan, Academic freedom, U.S.-China relations, propaganda, Self censorship, Hanban, education