The Free Speech Crisis Colleges Ignore
Chronicle of Higher Ed | Jonathan Zimmerman
Zimmerman exposes a quiet truth within American higher ed—fear of, and commiseration with, the Chinese government when it comes to stifling, harassing and reporting Chinese students who criticize China. “The harassment of Chinese students [who speak out against China] violates the most basic principles at the heart of our academic mission: debate, dialogue, and the open exchange of ideas. But so far as I know, no major college leader has expressed their support for the students’ speech rights or condemned Chinese state agents for menacing them.”
“Witness the tepid reaction to demonstrations by brave Chinese students in the United States, who have joined their brethren back home in denouncing Covid lockdowns in China and — more broadly — the repressive regime of President Xi Jinping. Many of the protesters wore disguises or refused to give their full names to journalists, for fear that state-security officials will harass them and their families.”
They have good reason to be fearful, reports Zimmerman. “As ProPublica revealed last fall, Chinese intelligence agents have used local informants to intimidate Chinese students on our campuses. Some students avoid taking courses with other students from China because they don’t know who is working for the government — and who might report them to it.”
Zimmerman specifically calls out one organization that’s well established on Harvard’s campus, among others. “We should also urge the Justice Department to probe the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, which has coordinated with the Chinese government to clamp down on dissidents in the United States.”
Zimmerman’s ask of universities (including Harvard) in which CSSA is entrenched— “If the CSSA is passing information about dissident students to the Chinese government, our own government has a duty to sanction it. And our colleges should cooperate fully, sharing any evidence of spying that they encounter.”
As spies, he argues, punishments should follow: “People on our campuses who inform upon Chinese students aren’t simply breaching fundamental academic values; if they’re not registered foreign agents, they’re also breaking the law. Don’t we have a duty to report them, if we find out that they’re spying for Beijing?”
Zimmerman points out the obvious, without even mentioning endowments or donations*— “We’re happy to take their tuition dollars, of course,” write Zimmerman, “but we won’t speak up for their right to free speech.”
*Donation-related articles:
The Harvard Connection (The Spectator World, 5/26/22)
Harvard Received Over $1.1 Billion in Foreign Funding Since 2012 (The Crimson, 10/22/20)
