On 1 February 2023，the Australian university sector has welcomed a snap Chinese government ban on citizens studying at foreign universities online.

在2023 年 2 月 1 日，澳大利亚大学界对中国政府突然禁止公民在外国大学在线学习表示欢迎。

The chief executive of Universities Australia, Catriona Jackson, said the move would encourage some 40,000 Chinese students to return to Australia but warned there would be logistical hurdles.

澳大利亚大学联盟首席执行官卡特里奥娜·杰克逊 (Catriona Jackson) 表示，此举将鼓励约 4 万名中国学生返回澳大利亚，但警告称，这将存在后勤障碍。

“We will be working closely with government and industry to ensure universities can quickly respond to this influx and facilitate the safe return of students from China as well as students from other nations,” Jackson said on Sunday.

杰克逊周日表示：“我们将与政府和业界密切合作，确保大学能够迅速应对这一涌入，并促进中国和其他国家学生的安全返回。”

China’s education ministry announced the ban on Saturday, instead telling its citizens to return to overseas campuses, News Corp reported on Sunday.

据新闻集团周日报道，中国教育部周六宣布了这一禁令，并要求其公民返回海外校园。

Australia’s education sector took a financial hit at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic when border closures forced full-fee paying international students to return home. Since then, some universities have convinced Chinese nationals to continue studying at Australia universities online while still paying full fees.

新冠肺炎 (Covid-19) 疫情爆发之初，澳大利亚教育部门遭受了财务打击，边境关闭迫使全额付费的国际学生回国。此后，一些大学说服中国公民继续在澳大利亚大学在线学习，同时仍需支付全额费用。

Jackson said education was Australia’s largest service export, bringing $40bn into the economy in 2019.

杰克逊表示，教育是澳大利亚最大的服务出口，2019 年为经济带来 400 亿美元的收入。

Working back to this position of strength we held prior to the pandemic is in the interest of universities and our nation,” she said.

恢复我们在大流行之前所保持的优势地位符合大学和我们国家的利益，”她说。

The University of Sydney said it was working to get the majority of students back by the semester one in the first half of the year, before returning to face-to-face classes in semester two.

悉尼大学表示，正在努力让大多数学生在今年上半年的第一学期之前重返校园，然后在第二学期恢复面对面授课。

“We are aware of the short-term logistical challenges and will be working with the Australian government on this,” a university spokesperson said.

“我们意识到短期的后勤挑战，并将与澳大利亚政府就此合作，”大学发言人表示。

The sudden ban on online study follows a thawing of relations between Beijing and Canberra since Labor took office in May last year.

自去年五月工党上台以来，北京和堪培拉之间的关系解冻，随后突然禁止在线学习。

China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, said earlier this month “bad political relations” had contributed to students’ reluctance to come to Australia.

中国驻澳大利亚大使肖千本月早些时候表示，“糟糕的政治关系”导致学生不愿来澳大利亚。

However, more stability in the relationship should see that trend reversed, he said.

然而，他表示，随着两国关系更加稳定，这一趋势应该会得到扭转。