When I represented universities, I often appeared at parliamentary inquiries. All were instructive, but there was one in late 2020 that taught me how entrenched anti-China prejudice is in Australia.

The occasion was a Senate inquiry into China and universities. It came amidst the swirling anti-China sentiment of the COVID-19 period and a campaign by The Australian. For months, the Murdoch broadsheet had been running article after article implying that China was stealing Australian intellectual property, infiltrating uni campuses, and that ‘foreign interference’ was being facilitated by lefty universities and lax laws.

Parliamentary inquiries are often a genuine discussion of legislative detail. I suspected this one might be more political blood sport.

Appearing before such inquiries was routine for me in those days, and I did the usual preparation, reminding myself of the two cardinal rules: keep your cool no matter........

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