Massey working with Chinese firm blacklisted over human rights abuses
Pelasa Sun made this Official Information request to Massey University
The request was partially successful.
From: Pelasa Sun
Dear Massey University/VC Jan Thomas,
In October 2017, Massey University announced a funding agreement with iFLYTEK, a Chinese artificial intelligence heavyweight valued at $15 billion and designated a "national champion" by the Chinese government as part of its push to lead the world in AI by 2030.
iFLYTEK was among eight Chinese companies added to a United States trade blacklist last month, with the US Commerce Department citing their implication in “human rights violations and abuses in the implementation of China’s campaign of repression, mass arbitrary detention, and high-technology surveillance against Uighurs, Kazakhs, and other members of Muslim minority groups”.
Has Massey University contributing staff or funding towards iFlyTek technology used in repression, mass detention and surveillance of Muslim minority groups in China?
Has Massey University had internal discussions about continuing to work closely with Chinese companies widely suspected to be participating in human rights violations/abuse?
Yours faithfully,
Pelasa Sun
Massey University
Kia ora
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Massey University
Kia ora Pelasa
Thanks for getting in touch about this issue – we value feedback from our
community and being alerted to issues as they might arise.
Massey University has an agreement with iFLYTEK, which funds a Massey
University Professor of Knowledge Science and relates to online teaching
tools and speech language recognition. Our academic splits his time
between Massey in New Zealand and iFLYTEK.
We understand the concerns held about iFLYTEK and we hold our researchers
to a high ethical standard. To date Massey has not received any advice or
instruction from any government department, however we would naturally
consider any request or proposal put forward by officials should the
Government have concerns.
Should you require any further assistance, please do not hesitate to
contact us.
Ngâ mihi
Grace Chow | Customer Service Representative | Te Paepoto
Student Administration | Te Kunenga ki Pûrehuroa | Massey University
Call: 0800 MASSEY (627 739) | Overseas +64 6 350 5701
Operating Hours: Monday to Friday 8:30am to 4:30pm
Email: [1][Massey University request email] | Free Text 5222
Webchat: [2]chat.massey.ac.nz | Website: [3]http://www.massey.ac.nz
Please note: The content of this email is confidential and may also be
legally privileged, intended for the individual or entity named and should
be read by the intended recipient only. If you are not the intended
recipient and have received this email in error, can you please notify the
sender immediately and delete the content from your system. Thank you.
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Massey University has acknowledged that they are working with a US blacklisted company & that they have a staff member who works for both them and the blacklisted company.
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