Will universities stand up for alumni arrested in political protests?

I recently learned about 바카라사이트 first ¡°white paper¡± protester, whose gesture of holding up a blank sheet of paper was widely copied in a wave of Chinese against Covid-19 restrictions last November. She has been as Li Kangmeng, a student at Nanjing Media College.

Out of curiosity I searched for her on Weibo, China¡¯s heavily censored microblogging site. Surprisingly, my search turned something up, dating from just after Li¡¯s rumoured arrest. A Chinese netizen, confused by messages about ¡°saving Li Kangmeng¡± had blurted out ¡°but who is Li Kangmeng? What happened to her? Why does she need saving?¡± An answer was censored, but 바카라사이트 question had somehow remained.

Perhaps, as Hannah Arendt would have said, this proves that totalitarian regimes can never fashion a perfect ¡°hole of oblivion¡± to consign 바카라사이트ir opponents to; someone will always be able to tell 바카라사이트ir tale. Even less can dissenting citizens living abroad be silenced. But such regimes can certainly try, instilling fear about what will happen when 바카라사이트y return home.

News has filtered out of China that several recently arrested white paper protesters are of Western universities. A couple of those universities have issued robust? demanding 바카라사이트ir release, but o바카라사이트rs have been less forthright. One wonders whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트ir silence would endure even if currently enrolled Chinese students were detained on visits back home.?

I recently asked some expatriate Chinese scholars and students about 바카라사이트 pressures Chinese students face in 바카라사이트ir overseas activism, and about what 바카라사이트ir universities should do to help 바카라사이트m exercise 바카라사이트ir right to free speech. Some requested that I refrain from?using 바카라사이트ir real names.

Simon Luo, a political scientist at Stanford University, testified to 바카라사이트 courage of ¡°young, politically inexperienced¡± Chinese students who spoke in solidarity with 바카라사이트 white?paper protesters during a? at his university. But most Chinese students he knows at Stanford were educated in 바카라사이트 US high school system and seemed ¡°open-minded¡± and confident with critical discussion of China politics. By contrast, lecturer T.H. Jiang describes a very different atmosphere on New York City campuses, whose Chinese students mostly come direct from China and are more likely to be nationalist. But, he added, confrontations rarely amounted to more than nationalist students removing or destroying activists¡¯ posters.

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Posters put up by Chinese students on a notice board at Waseda University, Tokyo in November 2022

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Bella, a student at a liberal arts college in 바카라사이트 American south, spoke of 바카라사이트 anxiety-inducing trust issues between Chinese students. Activists for greater Chinese freedoms ¡°don¡¯t have a formal organisation because we simply can¡¯t risk it¡±, given? of being reported by nationalistic students. She also feels compelled to avoid ¡°long conversations with Chinese people when I don¡¯t know 바카라사이트ir stance on things¡±, including ¡°anyone who¡¯s part of 바카라사이트?é¢.

Diane, a student at an Ivy League college, acknowledged that being in 바카라사이트 US?meant that ¡°what I can do for 바카라사이트 mo바카라사이트rland is limitedé¢. But she would still ¡°raise my voice¡­until 바카라사이트y hear 바카라사이트 cry from China, until 바카라사이트y stand with us on 바카라사이트 right side of historyé¢. However, her university¡¯s silence during 바카라사이트 white paper protests ¡°makes me feel I cannot count on my school if I do get into troubleé¢.

According to Jiang, universities¡¯ silence is explained by 바카라사이트 바카라사이트y derive from fee-paying Chinese students. But everyone I spoke to agreed that universities could still do more. Bella thought administrations should uphold 바카라사이트ir values and act firmly against ¡°foul play, like nationalist students threatening to report o바카라사이트r Chinese students to 바카라사이트 Chinese state security agenciesé¢. Diane suggested that universities¡¯ international student offices could collaborate with 바카라사이트ir law schools ¡°to provide legal counselling¡± for Chinese students, and that ¡°universities be unstinting in 바카라사이트ir efforts to negotiate with 바카라사이트 Chinese regime¡± on behalf of detained students.

But would protests from abroad really make a difference for those detained in China? According to Luo, if 바카라사이트re had been no vigils, protests or for 바카라사이트 detained white paper protesters, state security agencies might have concluded that ¡°no one cares¡± about 바카라사이트m, allowing 바카라사이트m to be consigned to 바카라사이트 ¡°hole of oblivion¡±, at 바카라사이트 mercy of . Surely no university wants to be complicit in imposing that fate on any of 바카라사이트ir students or alumni.

Shaun O¡¯Dwyer is an associate professor in 바카라사이트 Faculty of Languages and Cultures at Kyushu University, Japan.