5 ms·

This is an article spun to make controversy out of nothing. The narrative is that a student tweeted something critical about China, and the CCP pressured his a

This is an article spun to make controversy out of nothing. The narrative is that a student tweeted something critical about China, and the CCP pressured his advisor into dropping him. The reality is that the student published a tweet that "depicted a comic character that had been altered and had stereotyped Chinese features, with yellow skin tone and slit eyes". This understandably was perceived as racist by a Chinese student in Canada, who complained to the advisor. The advisor agreed and dropped her racist-seeming doctoral student. The CCP wasn't involved. Nobody cared about his criticism of China. It was his racist-looking tweet that got him dismissed. Edit: But yes, the CCP can have a chilling effect on free speech. See the Blitzchung controversy. This article is just a non-story.

javert 5y ago
For anyone else wondering if the above commenter is a Chinese propaganda account, you can see from his or her comment history that that is not the case.
- ipnon 5y ago
  Lest ye incur the wrath of dang, HN newbies, accusing others of astroturfing or hidden agendas is against the guidelines.
  - javert 5y ago
    > Lest ye incur the wrath of dang, HN newbies, accusing others of astroturfing or hidden agendas is against the guidelines. For people who are having trouble parsing that: I am not an HN noob and I did not accuse anyone of astroturfing. The opposite, on both counts.
    - exo-pla-net 5y ago
      I'm afraid I may have dragged you down with me. Johnny thought he saw CCP behind the tree, so the surrounding transnational region needs to be firebombed as a precautionary measure. One has to go along with it, or one is immediately court marshaled as a secret CCP sympathizer. Anyway, now that we're at the bottom of the comment thread and just talking to each other, thanks for vouching for me. You probably saved me from being hammered even deeper into the downvote pit.
      - javert 5y ago
        You're welcome.
  - jacquesm 5y ago
    He didn't. And I resent your portrayal of Daniel he's not vengeful. Which given some of the idiocy he has to deal with quite amazing.
    - ipnon 5y ago
      It was meant to be in jest, I'm sorry.
      - javert 5y ago
        It's OK. I forgive you. It wouldn't be right to let a good deed go unpunished on Hacker News. Or unflagged.
        ipnon 5y ago
        All's well that ends well.
ipnon 5y ago
The advisor who dismissed the student changed their story multiple times, didn't name the accuser, and contradicts the Ph.D. students records of his matriculation and attendance. Furthermore she has a motive, if she is truly under political pressure or is intimidated by the diplomatic consequences of being associated with a critic of CCP. She is a China researcher, so being barred from entering China could be a fatal blow to her career. Finally, the last thing she wants is a viral story in fairly reputable newspaper of record. I cannot directly refute your claims, only call them into question. But I think that is the crux of the story here anyway, to question. What affect is the mass surveillance and blanket censorship of China having on Western institutions of open inquiry? Are the tendrils of the PRC police state stretching into places we assume will always be bastions of free speech? I don't think we can definitively answer these either way today.
afc 5y ago
Yeah, agree. Almost the entire article is spun telling only one part of the story, and only towards the very end do they, at least, reveal the other side, which shows that the student published a racist cartoon, and that it was just some random person who complained to the professor. It feels misleading and deliberate that, from the start, they mention that they've seen the emails which confirm the student's account, but withhold the rest of the information (the racist image; the deregistration affair) until near the end. I'm disappointed; I expect better from the NZZ.
Aunche 5y ago
It's convenient to believe that your enemy is so fragile that they're threatened by a twitterer with a dozen followers. I don't see how that does one any good outside a feeling of smug superiority. China is building a frightening amount soft power through trade deals and building goodwill. That's what people should be talking about, not China supposedly censoring angry opinions that can be found anywhere else on the internet.
- bmn__ 5y ago
  > It's convenient to believe that your enemy is so fragile There is ample evidence that they are butt-hurt by the tiniest criticism – intentioned or not, real or imagined, by inclusion or by omission – which would not even count as an affront under most other circumstances. The psychic trauma that is amenable to a degree for this response unfortunately is deeply seated and difficult to shake loose.
- rocqua 5y ago
  China is not at all worried about small Twitter followers. But if China shows they will shut down even the most inconsequential dissent. Then real dissent will know that, if they speak up, they will be shutdown very hard.
- dear 5y ago
  Google "glass heart"
will4274 5y ago
Until I see it, I'm not going to believe that cartoon is racist. I mean seriously, Asian people have skin that is somewhat more yellow and somewhat narrower eyes. With the way the media manipulates anything, the lack of a photo is a pretty strong sign that the cartoon ISN'T significantly racist (just as the lack of race in the title in a act of police brutality is a strong sign that the victim is white).
- throw453212 5y ago
  I have the opposite thought. The article was obviously sympathetic to the student, so not including the racist image is a pretty strong sign. Even the student ended up saying if he had given it more thought, he would not have posted the racist image.

javert 5y ago

For anyone else wondering if the above commenter is a Chinese propaganda account, you can see from his or her comment history that that is not the case.

ipnon 5y ago
Lest ye incur the wrath of dang, HN newbies, accusing others of astroturfing or hidden agendas is against the guidelines.
- javert 5y ago
  > Lest ye incur the wrath of dang, HN newbies, accusing others of astroturfing or hidden agendas is against the guidelines. For people who are having trouble parsing that: I am not an HN noob and I did not accuse anyone of astroturfing. The opposite, on both counts.
  - exo-pla-net 5y ago
    I'm afraid I may have dragged you down with me. Johnny thought he saw CCP behind the tree, so the surrounding transnational region needs to be firebombed as a precautionary measure. One has to go along with it, or one is immediately court marshaled as a secret CCP sympathizer. Anyway, now that we're at the bottom of the comment thread and just talking to each other, thanks for vouching for me. You probably saved me from being hammered even deeper into the downvote pit.
    - javert 5y ago
      You're welcome.
- jacquesm 5y ago
  He didn't. And I resent your portrayal of Daniel he's not vengeful. Which given some of the idiocy he has to deal with quite amazing.
  - ipnon 5y ago
    It was meant to be in jest, I'm sorry.
    - javert 5y ago
      It's OK. I forgive you. It wouldn't be right to let a good deed go unpunished on Hacker News. Or unflagged.
      - ipnon 5y ago
        All's well that ends well.

ipnon 5y ago

The advisor who dismissed the student changed their story multiple times, didn't name the accuser, and contradicts the Ph.D. students records of his matriculation and attendance. Furthermore she has a motive, if she is truly under political pressure or is intimidated by the diplomatic consequences of being associated with a critic of CCP. She is a China researcher, so being barred from entering China could be a fatal blow to her career. Finally, the last thing she wants is a viral story in fairly reputable newspaper of record. I cannot directly refute your claims, only call them into question. But I think that is the crux of the story here anyway, to question. What affect is the mass surveillance and blanket censorship of China having on Western institutions of open inquiry? Are the tendrils of the PRC police state stretching into places we assume will always be bastions of free speech? I don't think we can definitively answer these either way today.

afc 5y ago

Yeah, agree. Almost the entire article is spun telling only one part of the story, and only towards the very end do they, at least, reveal the other side, which shows that the student published a racist cartoon, and that it was just some random person who complained to the professor. It feels misleading and deliberate that, from the start, they mention that they've seen the emails which confirm the student's account, but withhold the rest of the information (the racist image; the deregistration affair) until near the end. I'm disappointed; I expect better from the NZZ.

Aunche 5y ago

It's convenient to believe that your enemy is so fragile that they're threatened by a twitterer with a dozen followers. I don't see how that does one any good outside a feeling of smug superiority. China is building a frightening amount soft power through trade deals and building goodwill. That's what people should be talking about, not China supposedly censoring angry opinions that can be found anywhere else on the internet.

bmn__ 5y ago
> It's convenient to believe that your enemy is so fragile There is ample evidence that they are butt-hurt by the tiniest criticism – intentioned or not, real or imagined, by inclusion or by omission – which would not even count as an affront under most other circumstances. The psychic trauma that is amenable to a degree for this response unfortunately is deeply seated and difficult to shake loose.
rocqua 5y ago
China is not at all worried about small Twitter followers. But if China shows they will shut down even the most inconsequential dissent. Then real dissent will know that, if they speak up, they will be shutdown very hard.
dear 5y ago
Google "glass heart"

will4274 5y ago

Until I see it, I'm not going to believe that cartoon is racist. I mean seriously, Asian people have skin that is somewhat more yellow and somewhat narrower eyes. With the way the media manipulates anything, the lack of a photo is a pretty strong sign that the cartoon ISN'T significantly racist (just as the lack of race in the title in a act of police brutality is a strong sign that the victim is white).

throw453212 5y ago
I have the opposite thought. The article was obviously sympathetic to the student, so not including the racist image is a pretty strong sign. Even the student ended up saying if he had given it more thought, he would not have posted the racist image.