The president of an American university publishes a letter condemning the harassment of Chinese students discussing the 'Tiananmen Square Incident'



On December 15, 2021, Purdue University in the United States sent a letter to students and faculty members condemning the harassment of Chinese students on campus and stating that they would not tolerate infringement of their freedom of speech.

The letter was written by the time a Chinese student at Purdue University, who announced his opinion on the 'Sixty-four Tiananmen Incident ' that occurred in China in 1989, was harassed and harassed by the same Chinese student, and his family in his home country was threatened. The president, who took a serious look at the escalating problems, announced.

President Daniels responds to Chinese student's harassment | Campus | purdueexponent.org
https://www.purdueexponent.org/campus/article_aa3e67de-5de9-11ec-9246-af6384980cbb.html

Zhihao Kong, a doctoral student in civil engineering at Purdue University, has long criticized the Communist Party of China, but as the new coronavirus infection spreads in the United States and the winds on China become stronger. It has been attracting attention from Chinese students who have become sensitive to the deterioration of relations between the United States and China. Then, in May 2020, the opinion on the Tiananmen Square Incident was published on SNS, and when it was widely spread on the Internet, it became threatened and harassed on campus and on the Internet.


by

Mike Licht

According to ProPublica, a non-profit and independent news agency, Mr. Kong received a message such as 'call the Chinese Communist Party,' and parents who were actually in China were visited by National Security Bureau officials. It was said that there was. Mr. Kong, who was crying to stop criticizing the Chinese government over the phone from his parents, had to cancel his speech at an event in memory of the Tiananmen Square Incident.

Following a report by ProPublica, Purdue University President Mitchell Elias sent a letter to students and faculty members on December 15 condemning Mr. Kong's harassment. The translation is as follows.

'To Purdue University students, staff, faculty and staff.

Last week, I learned in national news that one of Purdue University's students was harassed and intimidated by another student from his home country after speaking out for those who had been harassed by freedom and its claims. rice field. To make matters worse, his family was threatened by Chinese secret police intelligence personnel.

It's a pity that we haven't been aware of this for a while and have learned from the press. This one is a problem that reflects the threatening atmosphere surrounding this kind of speech.

Such threats are unacceptable and unwelcome on our campus. Purdue University has penalties for direct or threatening acts. Those who disagree with the speech in question have the right to express it, but not the harassment that has happened this time. If the intimidating student is identified, he or she will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action. Similarly, if it turns out that another student who has exercised freedom of speech or belief has been reported to a foreign organization, he or she will be severely punished.

Purdue University was the first to accept Asian students over a century ago, and Asian students are not new. We are proud that hundreds of international students will be enrolled this fall, of which nearly 200 are Chinese.

But to join the Purdue University community, you need to embrace its rules and values. And in our university and in higher education in general, there is no more central value than freedom of inquiry and expression. Those who seek to deny such rights, let alone collude with foreign governments to suppress them, need to be educated elsewhere. '



In response to President Daniels' letter, Kong admitted that he had been harassed, saying in a post on the online bulletin board Reddit, 'It is true that I was harassed by someone from China.' .. On top of that, Mr. Kong commented on his bashing: 'Many Chinese students opposed my political views and insulted me here and there, which must be their freedom of expression, but one of them. The department tried to hurt my family in China with blatant and strong words. '' Please, Chinese people, first humans, then Chinese, and finally Chinese Communists. ' I called.


Similar cases have occurred in the past in American education. In 2019, Francis Hui of Emerson College

wrote a column titled 'I'm from Hong Kong, not China, ' and reportedly received severe harassment from students studying abroad from mainland China.

A student in Boston wrote,'I am from Hong Kong.' An onslaught of Chinese anger followed.
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2019/05/28/frances-hui-hong-kong/

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