Sheffield Hallam University, under Chinese pressure, ordered a leading professor to stop research on forced labor in the Uyghur region.
By now, we have grown accustomed to the idea that speaking truth to power comes with consequences. But when a British university quietly shelves human rights research because Beijing raised an eyebrow—and a lawsuit—one begins to wonder whether academic freedom is just another endangered species.
Welcome to the curious case of Sheffield Hallam University, where the pursuit of justice collided head-on with the machinery of international intimidation. The university’s Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice (HKC), once a proud beacon of human rights research, has now become a cautionary tale in how not to handle pressure from authoritarian regimes.
The drama began with Professor Laura Murphy, whose work on forced labour in China—specifically the exploitation of Uyghur Muslims in supply chains—has been cited by the UN, U.S. Congress, and various European bodies. Her research was rigorous, impactful, and, apparently, too honest for comfort. In February 2025, Sheffield Hallam ordered her to stop—not pause, not revise: stop.
Why? Because Beijing asked nicely—if by “nicely” you mean sending three state security officers to interrogate staff at the university’s Beijing office for two hours. According to internal documents, the tone was “threatening” and the message “clear.” It was the academic equivalent of a horse’s head in the bed.
Read it all in Bitter Winter