Abstract

In the 21st century, Chinese universities stand at a historic crossroads. On one hand, they are striving mightily—proclaiming the ambition to build “world-class universities,” pouring massive investments into artificial intelligence, quantum technology, aerospace engineering, and life sciences, aggressively recruiting international talent and launching global partnerships. This is their DeepSeek: the profound pursuit of global knowledge and scientific peaks. On the other hand, they are increasingly trapped in systemic falsification—data fabrication, academic misconduct, loss of academic freedom, ideological rigidity, hollow internationalization, and performative pedagogy have become commonplace. This is their DeepFake: a simulation of a “real university,” carefully manufactured and strategically displayed. This paper argues: The dual existence of DeepSeek and DeepFake is no coincidence. They are twin products of the same political and cultural machinery. When the university becomes an instrument of political performance and national image-building, the pursuit of truth inevitably degenerates into a spectacle of appearances.