An Open Letter to Tsinghua University, signed and sealed

Xu Zhangrun vs. Tsinghua University
Voices of Protest & Resistance (VII.3)

 

Dear Readers,

Below we copy the Open Letter to Tsinghua University written in support of Professor Xu Zhangrun 許章潤 and originally published by us on the 5th of April 2019. This letter, which as of 20th April bears 250 signatures (arranged in alphabetical order below), has now been printed for delivery both to the President and to the Communist Party Secretary of Tsinghua University. Some colleagues also signed an earlier Chinese-language letter of protest composed by Tsinghua graduates, and published in both Chinese and English here. (See ‘Speaking Up for a Man Who Dared to Speak Out’China Heritage, 1 April, 2019.)

The character 呼 , as in 呼籲 hū yù — to appeal, urge, petition or call out in protest — in the hand of Li Huailin 李懷琳 of the Tang dynasty

China Heritage has also provided an overview of the ‘Xu Case’ through an ongoing series of translations and commentaries published under the title ‘Xu Zhangrun versus Tsinghua University — Voices of Protest and Resistance’ (see ‘The Xu Zhangrun Archive’, listed under Projects on this site). We believe that this material indicates that the treatment of Professor Xu in Beijing is not merely to do with a clumsy official attack on the freedom to teach, research and write that has been rightfully enjoyed by a leading academic at one of China’s most prestigious universities. It also reflects the mounting and systemic crisis in high education (and, indeed, in education more broadly) in China’s People’s Republic. For more on this, see the Editorial Introduction to ‘The Xu Zhangrun Archive’ and the five-part China Heritage series ‘Drop Your Pants! The Party Wants to Patriotise You All Over Again’, 8 August-1 October 2018.

***

Andrew J. Nathan and I would like to thank all the colleagues and friends who have supported this appeal. As there is continuing interest in the ‘Xu Case’, others who may wish to add their names to the Open Letter should send their details to:

ProfXu2019@gmail.com

China Heritage will publish a further list of signatories in the coming months.

— Geremie R. Barmé
Editor, China Heritage
22 April 2019


An Open Letter to Tsinghua University

 

April 22, 2019

Dr. Qiu Yong
President
Tsinghua University
Haidian District, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China

Dr. Chen Xu
Party Secretary
Tsinghua University
Haidian District, Beijing, 100084, P. R. China

Dear President Qiu and Secretary Chen,

Tsinghua University, one of the most highly ranked universities in the world, has suffered severe damage to its academic reputation as a consequence of the university’s punishment of Professor Xu Zhangrun.

As members of the international academic community, we urge the university to restore Professor Xu’s normal status in the university, including his teaching and research duties, and to refrain from any further sanctions against him.

Sincerely,

 

Nick Admussen
Cornell University

Stephen C. Angle
Wesleyan University

Tomoko Ako
The University of Tokyo

Geremie R. Barmé
The Australian National University

Robbie Barnett
University of Cambridge

Emily Baum
University of California, Irvine

Bill Bauriedel
Stanford University

Jean-Philippe Béja
CNRS/CERI-Sciences-Po
(Centre de Recherches Internationales)

Marie Claire Bergere
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales

Ilaria Biagioli
Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia

Ester Bianchi
Perugia University

Lucien Bianco
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales
Sarah Biddulph
The University of Melbourne

Jean François Billeter
University of Geneva

Gill H. Boehringer
International Association of People’s Lawyers

Michel Bonnin
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales

Joseph Bosco
Georgetown University

David Bray
The University of Sydney

Claire-Akiko Brisset
University of Geneva

Timothy Brook
University of British Columbia

David Brophy
University of Sydney

Katia Buffetrille
Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Paris

Marianne Bastid-Bruguière
Académie des sciences morales et politiques, Institut de France

Marianne Bujard
Ecole pratique des hautes études, Paris

Ian Buruma
Bard College

Paola Calanca
French School of Asian Studies

Daniela Campo
University of Strasbourg

Vittorio Capecchi
University of Bologna

Catherine Capdeville
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales

Kevin Carrico
Monash University

Anita Chan
Australian National University

Hing-Ho Chan
French National Centre for Scientific Research

Jonathan Chaves
The George Washington University

Timothy Cheek
University of British Columbia

Ding Chen
University of Sheffield

Yu-Jie Chen
Institutum Iurisprudentiae, Academia Sinica

Louisa Chiang
Independent Writer

Feng Chongyi
University of Technology Sydney

Eva S. Chou
Baruch College, City University of New York

Jennifer Chou
Journalist

Karen Christensen
Berkshire Publishing Group LLC

Andrew Chubb
Columbia University

Donald Clarke
George Washington University

Alan W. Clarke
Utah Valley University

Tom Cliff
Australian National University

Craig Clunas
University of Oxford

Jerome A. Cohen
New York University

Alison W. Conner
University of Hawai`i at Manoa

Lois Conner
New York

Anders Corr
Journal of Political Risk

John A. Crespi
Colgate University

Amina Crisma
University of Bologna

Cui Wei
University of British Columbia

Vincent Durand-Dastès
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales

Michael C. Davis
Woodrow Wilson International Center

Gloria Davies
Monash University

Deborah Davis
Yale University

Kirk Denton
Ohio State University

Zhang Dong
University of Applied Sciences Ludwigshafen

Darrell Dorrington
Australian National University

June Teufel Dreyer
University of Miami

Clayton Dube
University of Southern California

Josephine Chiu-Duke
University of British Columbia

George Dutton
University of California, Los Angeles

Michael Dutton
University of London

Stephen Epstein
Victoria University of Wellington

Guilhem Fabre
Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales

Fredrik Fällman
University of Gothenburg

James V. Feinerman
Georgetown University

Magnus Fiskesjö
Cornell University

Steven FitzGerald
Former Australian Ambassador to China

Martin S. Flaherty
Princeton University

Ivan Franceschini
The Australian National University

Vanessa Frangville
Free University of Brussels

Sally Frank
Drake University

Edward Friedman
University of Wisconsin

Chloe Froissart
University of Rennes

Fu Hualing
The University of Hong Kong

Andreas Fulda
University of Nottingham

Luca Gabbiani
French School of Asian Studies

Roger Garside
Former officer of the British Diplomatic Service

Beatrice Gallelli
Ca’ Foscari University

Nicola Gasbarro
Universita Di Udine

Ken George
The Australian National University

Paul Gewirtz
Yale University

Frank Gibney Jr.
Independent Writer & Editor
Brunswick, ME USA

Laura De Giorgi
University Ca’ Foscari Venezia

Bruno Giorgini
University of Bologna

Todd Gitlin
Columbia University

Myron Gochnauer
University of New Brunswick, Canada

Jeremy Goldkorn
SupChina

Jane Golley
The Australian National University

Richard Gordon
Independent Filmmaker
Long Bow Group Inc.

Romain Graziani
Ecole normale supérieure de Lyon

Raissa De Gruttola
Perugia University – Italy

Eric Haag
University of Maryland, College Park

Terence Halliday
American Bar Foundation and Australian National University

James M. Hargett
The University at Albany, State University of New York

Baogang He
Deakin University

Gail Hershatter
University of California, Santa Cruz

Carma Hinton
George Mason University

Carsten A. Holz
Hong Kong University of Science & Technology

Marie Holzman
Solidarity China

Charles Horner
Hudson Institute

Ke Chiang Hsieh
University of Arizona

Jaw-Nian Huang
Tamkang University, Taipei

Jean-François Huchet
National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisation

Wai How Hui
University of Waterloo and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Victoria Hui
University of Notre Dame

Chang-tai Hung
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Tomoaki Ishii
Meiji University

Linda Jaivin
Centre on China in the World, Australian National University

Ronald R. Janssen
Hofstra University

Zhe Ji
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales

Nan Jiang
University of Maryland, College Park

Ha Jin
Boston University

Marja Kaikkonen
Stockholm University

Kai Kajitani
Kobe University

Zhengguo Kang
Yale University

Thierry Kellner
Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium

Anne Kerlan
French National Centre for Scientific Research

Jeffrey C. Kinkley
Portland State University

Ondrej Klimes
Oriental Institute, Czech Academy of Sciences

Jon Eugene von Kowallis
University of New South Wales

Wyman Kwok
Former associate professor at Shantou University

Christine Lamarre
National Institute for Oriental Languages and Cultures

Christian Lamouroux
École des hautes études en sciences sociales

Diana Lary
University of British Columbia

Françoise Lauwaert
Free University of Brussels

Valérie Lavoix
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales

Daniel Leese
University of Freiburg

James Leibold
La Trobe University

Paul Levine
Copenhagen University

Steven I. Levine
University of Montana

Xiaolin Li
Columbia University

Wah Guan Lim
The University of New South Wales

Thunghong Lin
Institute of Sociology, Academia Sinica

Perry Link
University of California, Riverside

Bonbon Little
Tsinghua University

Olga Lomova
Charles University, Prague

Winston Lord
former US Ambassador to China

Nicholas Loubere
Lund University

Julia Lovell
University of London

Richard Madsen
University of California, San Diego

Sumitendra Mazumdar
University of Arizona

Barrett L. McCormick
Marquette University

Tommy McClellan
University of Edinburgh

Donata Meneghelli
Università di Bologna

John Minford
The Australian National University

Marina Miranda
University of Rome “Sapienza”

Eberhard Möbius
University of New Hampshire

Brian Moloughney
University of Otago

Peter Moody
University of Notre Dame

Dani Madrid-Morales
University of Houston

Steven W. Mosher
Population Research Institute

Andrew J. Nathan
Columbia University

Kirin Narayan
Australian National University

Fan Ni
The University of Western Australia

Ryan Nichols
California State University, Fullerton

Roger E. Noether
National Taiwan University

Pan Junliang
Université Paris Diderot

Giangiorgio Pasqualotto
Padua University

Luisa M. Paternicò
“L’Orientale” University of Naples

Michael Paton
University of Sydney

Peter C. Perdue
Yale University

François Picard
président, Société française d’ethnomusicologie

Eva Pils
King’s College London

Angel Pino
Université Bordeaux Montaigne

Pitman Potter
University of British Columbia

Richard Qian
Tsinghua University

William P. Quigley
Loyola University, New Orleans

Isabelle Rabut
National Institute for Oriental Languages and Civilisation

John A. Rapp
Beloit College

Christopher Rea
University of British Columbia

Annie Luman Ren
The Australian National University

Sophie Richardson
Human Rights Watch

Richard Rigby
Australian National University

Stein Ringen
University of Oxford

Molly Roberts
University of California, San Diego

Matthew Robertson
The Australian National University

Christopher Rosenmeier
University of Edinburgh

Stuart Russell
Macquarie University, Australia

Elisa Levi Sabattini
L’Orientale University of Naples-Italy

Paolo Santangelo
Sapienza University of Rome

Sally Sargeson
The Australian National University

Elaine C. Sartorelli
Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil

Martin Sattler
Pepperdine University Heidelberg

Maurizio Scarpari
Ca’ Foscari University of Venice

David C. Schak
Griffith University

Orville Schell
Asia Society

Gary J. Schmitt
American Enterprise Institute

Vera Schwarcz
Wesleyan University

Leo K. Shin
University of British Columbia

Victor Shih
University of California, San Diego

Susan Shirk
University of California, San Diego

Mark Sidel
University of Wisconsin-Madison

William Sima
Australian National University

Gabriele von Sivers-Sattler
Independent scholar, Heidelberg, Germany

Callum Smith
Kanazawa University

Craig Smith
University of Melbourne

Yanjuan Song
Boston University

Yongyi Song
California State University, Los Angeles

Pierre-François Souyri
University of Geneva

Warren Sun
Monash University

Marina Svensson
Lund University

Michael Szonyi
Harvard University

Osamu Takamizawa
The University of Tokyo

Liwen Chen Tardieu
Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales

Dagmar Thiele
Independent scholar, Munich, Germany

Isabelle Thireau
School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences

Patricia M. Thornton
University of Oxford

Glenn Tiffert
Hoover Institution

Sue Trevaskes
Griffith University

Rory Truex
Princeton University

Steve Tsang
University of London

Chien-Yuan Tseng
National Taiwan University

Jonathan Unger,
The Australian National University

Sebastian Veg
School of Advanced Studies in Social Sciences

Florent Villard
Rennes Institute of Political Studies

Rudolf G. Wagner
Heidelberg University, Germany

Arthur Waldron
University of Pennsylvania

Wang Chaohua
University of California, Los Angeles

Yu Wang
Beijing University

Yuan-kang Wang
Western Michigan University

Jeffrey Wasserstrom
University of California, Irvine

Mariko Watanabe
Gakushuin University

Jeremy Webber
University of Victoria

Ralph Weber
University of Basel

Gerrit van der Wees
Department of History George Mason University

Frances Weightman
University of Leeds

Lynn T. White III
Princeton University

Stephen H. Whiteman
The University of London

Susan Whitfield
Scholar, Writer and Lecturer, London

Martin K. Whyte
Harvard University

Pierre-Etienne Will
Collège de France

Philip Williams
Montana State University

Jieh-min Wu
Academia Sinica

Renee Xia
The Network of Chinese Human Rights Defenders

Qiang Xiao
University of California, Berkeley

Haiqing Yu
RMIT University

Lukas Zadrapa
Institute of East Asian Studies
Charles University, Prague

Peter Zarrow
University of Connecticut

Jianying Zha
India China Institute, New York City

Karl K. Zhang
George Mason University

Laure Zhang
University of Geneva

Lun Zhang
University of Cergy Pontoise, France

Zhou Xianchu
The University of Hong Kong

Yu Zhou
Vassar College

Nicolas Zufferey
University of Geneva