Politicians are competing to lead the elite institution, clashing over Beijing's influence in Britain.
LONDON — Britain’s top university is searching for a new leader, and China is likely paying attention.
Oxford’s historic spires are set for change as 250,000 alumni and academics prepare to elect a new chancellor.
For nearly a millennium, the world’s second-oldest university—arguably the U.K.'s most prestigious—has shaped Nobel laureates, diplomats, prime ministers, and spies. The chancellor, a traditionally ceremonial and outspoken (and so far, exclusively male) role, serves as the figurehead of a key instrument of U.K. soft power.
The election for Oxford’s next chancellor is unfolding against the backdrop of Britain’s complex relationship with a nation 5,000 miles away: China.
Outgoing Chancellor Chris Patten, the last British governor of Hong Kong and a frequent critic of Beijing, is stepping down after 20 years in the role.
As U.K. universities increasingly depend on fees from Chinese students, and with a new Labour government seeking to mend ties with Beijing, candidates vying to succeed Patten are under intense scrutiny for their views on Sino-British relations.
Leading contender William Hague, former Conservative Party leader, told POLITICO’s Power Play podcast that the threat posed by Chinese students to British security is significant enough to warrant closer vetting of university applicants.
Hague stated, "One has to be cautious about Chinese students in certain fields that could have future military applications. There are limits to that." When asked by host Anne McElvoy who should oversee this vetting, he replied, "Admissions tutors... you always have to consider national security."
In contrast, Hague’s main rival, Labour peer Peter Mandelson, has been a vocal proponent of strengthening U.K.-China relations.
As the election, set to be decided next week, nears its conclusion, it has moved beyond academia to become a key geopolitical issue.
Chancellor Candidates
The role of Oxford chancellor has long held political significance, with notable figures such as former Prime Minister Harold Macmillan and ex-European Commission President Roy Jenkins having previously held the position.
This year’s final contenders include Tory peer William Hague, Labour's Peter Mandelson, former Conservative Cabinet minister Dominic Grieve, leading Scottish lawyer Elish Angiolini, and Labour’s former Leader of the House of Lords, Jan Royall.
The outgoing chancellor, Chris Patten, has used his two decades in office to voice his growing concerns over Chinese President Xi Jinping. Having witnessed Hong Kong’s handover to China in 1997 after more than 150 years of British rule, Patten has been a staunch critic of Beijing, emphasizing the need to safeguard Britain’s and Oxford’s interests from what he perceives as China’s harmful influence.
In a 2020 piece for The Australian, Patten wrote, "One thing is clear: the world cannot trust Xi’s dictatorship. The sooner we recognize this and act together, the sooner the Beijing bullies will have to behave better. The world will be safer and more prosperous for it."
The animosity between Patten and China is mutual; during his tenure in Hong Kong, Chinese state media labeled him a "snake," a liar, a “prostitute for a thousand generations,” and even a "tango dancer."
However, not all of Patten’s potential successors share his views on the threat posed by Xi Jinping.
Earlier this year, Mandelson told The Telegraph that he had the “international connections and networks” to help ensure Oxford remains a "global university." His own relationships with China are notably extensive.
Since stepping down from frontline politics in 2010, when Labour left office, Mandelson has lobbied against blocking Chinese investment in the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant and opposed the Conservative government’s national security and investment bill, calling it “a powerful deterrent to foreign direct investment.”
The Labour peer, who acted as an informal adviser to Keir Starmer during the opposition and is now being considered as the next U.K. ambassador to Washington, is the president of Global Counsel, a lobbying firm he founded and partially owns. He stepped down from its board just weeks before Labour took office this year.
Between 2015 and 2023, Mandelson served as president of the Great Britain-China Centre, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Foreign Office. During this time, he was described as a "frequent visitor" to China by the Centre's former chairman, Martin Davidson.
In a November 2021 conversation hosted by the Center for China and Globalization, alongside think tank president Wang Huiyao, a senior Chinese Communist Party official, Mandelson noted that his firm had developed a "significant China footprint" in recent years due to growing demand for its services from Chinese corporations.
In a September interview with the South China Morning Post, Mandelson argued that Britain "can’t boycott the biggest and fastest-growing economy in the world," and suggested that U.K. concerns over China’s human rights record and economic interests "shouldn’t overwhelm the other."
Speaking to POLITICO Power Play, Hague remarked on the U.K.’s growing dependence on Chinese tuition fees and economic investments: “It’s very healthy to have a lot of Chinese students,” emphasizing the importance of maintaining contact.
However, in response to reports of Chinese students at the University of Cambridge being urged by the Chinese ambassador to "serve the motherland," and as “Trojan horse” Chinese institutes at British universities lose government funding, Hague suggested that certain research areas should be restricted for national security reasons.
Hague suggested that areas such as "technologies of interest to intelligence agencies, the nuclear sector, artificial intelligence in defense technologies, and biotechnology" could be restricted for Chinese students.
When asked if admissions tutors would have enough understanding of U.K. national security to properly vet applicants from China for these fields, Hague responded, “I’m sure they can cope.”
With over 150,000 Chinese students enrolled in U.K. universities, China was the largest source of foreign students until India overtook it last year. Analysis by The Telegraph indicated that Chinese student tuition fees contributed nearly £6 billion to the U.K. university sector.
Yu Jie, a senior research fellow on China at Chatham House, noted that Oxford’s appeal to the parents of Chinese students may be diminishing due to significant shifts in China’s job market.
“An overseas degree from a top British or U.S. university may no longer be an advantage for securing a top position in the Chinese civil service, which is the goal for most Chinese young people today,” she explained, adding that China is now "well ahead" of the U.K. in scientific research.
She described the chancellor role as essentially the "diplomat" or "foreign minister" for Oxford—a figure who can both foster international relations and advocate for the university’s interests with the U.K. government.
“The reason for these debates is that these two candidates [Mandelson and Hague], along with the outgoing chancellor, represent completely opposing views on China,” she added.
However, some view the chancellorship as largely symbolic, regardless of the debates over ties with Beijing.
Political historian Anthony Seldon, also an alumnus of Worcester College, Oxford, argued that the contest, no matter the winner, likely won’t significantly impact the university’s standing and dismissed the role as a vanity project for older, former political figures.
“Chancellors rarely make much difference, and the stronger the university, the less a chancellor can do,” he said. “It’s nice for parents to see a familiar face at graduation, but we’re not talking about something that will push Oxford into the second half of the 21st century.”
“To Oxford, it won’t matter much whether it’s William Hague, Peter Mandelson, or someone else,” he added.
“Of course, it matters to them,” Seldon concluded. “It’s one of the most delightful post-career jobs imaginable.”
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