NETHERLANDS

Chinese scholarship PhD students unwelcome at universities
Dutch universities are increasingly reluctant to admit PhD students with a Chinese scholarship, Trouw reports after speaking to 12 universities. The Ministry of Education is investigating the risks of the scholarship financed by the Chinese government, reports the NL Times.The scholarship involves the China Scholarship Council (CSC) grant, financed by the Chinese Ministry of Education. It is a full-ride and Dutch universities have to contribute nothing. There are about 2,000 CSC holders in the Netherlands, spread across all universities.
TU Delft, with 242 scholarship holders, told Trouw it is “increasingly reluctant” to admit PhD students with a CSC scholarship. The university does not accept CSC PhD candidates in sensitive research areas, such as “dual use” technologies with both civil and military applications. The university also no longer admits students with ties to the “Seven Sons” – seven universities with close ties to the Chinese military. Researchers from the National University of Defence Technology are also unwelcome.
Full report on the NL Times site