4 ms·

> That probably isn't correct given that IU has scrubbed him from their web pages. That alone makes this look like disappearing him and his wife. Why? As a po

> That probably isn't correct given that IU has scrubbed him from their web pages. That alone makes this look like disappearing him and his wife. Why? As a possible explanation: Wang disappears suddenly and without warning. The university investigates and in the course of the investigation discovers that he was working as a spy for the PRC for the past 20 years while employed with them. They freak out, knowing that the current political climate (especially in their state) is one where they can't afford to become known as that school that harbored a Chinese spy, so they rush to try to keep everything under wraps. Unfortunately, they have to report what they found to the FBI, which proceeds to very un-subtley raid Wang's homes, drawing media attention and possibly triggering the firestorm they hoped to avoid. --- As with anything at this stage, this story is entirely supposition, but it does explain the known facts, and it explains them better than any other explanation I've seen floated in this thread.

KennyBlanken 2y ago
[flagged]
stevage 2y ago
He had students. The idea that the university thought they could suddenly pretend he never existed, and this would not become news, is not plausible.
- endominus 2y ago
  One thing the Streisand effect illuminates is a certain type of person is not fully able to model the consequences of trying to keep information secret. It's absolutely plausible that someone in the university administration actually believed that they could tell the FBI "please keep this secret in order to protect our reputation" and that their request would outweight the agency's other duties. There exist people that are that self-important.
- lolinder 2y ago
  You're assuming that the hypothetical university personnel responsible for the cleanup of the mess thought the whole thing through clearly and weren't in hardcore firefighting mode and reacting in ways that would seem to make sense at the time but didn't take all the facts into account. I see no reason to assume that level of intentionality.

KennyBlanken 2y ago

[flagged]

stevage 2y ago

He had students. The idea that the university thought they could suddenly pretend he never existed, and this would not become news, is not plausible.

endominus 2y ago
One thing the Streisand effect illuminates is a certain type of person is not fully able to model the consequences of trying to keep information secret. It's absolutely plausible that someone in the university administration actually believed that they could tell the FBI "please keep this secret in order to protect our reputation" and that their request would outweight the agency's other duties. There exist people that are that self-important.
lolinder 2y ago
You're assuming that the hypothetical university personnel responsible for the cleanup of the mess thought the whole thing through clearly and weren't in hardcore firefighting mode and reacting in ways that would seem to make sense at the time but didn't take all the facts into account. I see no reason to assume that level of intentionality.