PhD student in Switzerland expelled after criticizing the CCP in Twitter

https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/oxmgg2/phd_student_in_switzerland_expelled_from_his/

by ChemSpider • 5 years ago

338 108 5 years ago

bananapub• 5 years ago

explanation of what's going on which is, of course, way more complicated than the headline: https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/oxmgg2/phd_student_...

laurent123456• 5 years ago

Hmmm, unsourced claims by an anonymous user on Reddit. What's not to like.

Shacklz2• 5 years ago

Here's also a statement by the HSG regarding the article in the NZZ: https://www.unisg.ch/de/wissen/newsroom/aktuell/rssnews/camp...

According to the statement, the student tried "to force his re-acceptance to the phd-program with legal and political means".

To be honest, I'm not quite sure what to make out of the whole situation (as a Swiss, originally from the area of St. Gallen, where the school is).

I would be heavily surprised if the HSG would let itself pressure to the effects that the headline of the article insinuates. The school has a bit of a reputation in engineering circles as "useless MBA graduates factory", but being beholden to Chinese interests? That seems quite the stretch to me.

CRConrad3• 5 years ago

Replying to the university's claim directly:

Der Wunsch der ehemaligen Betreuerin, sich klar zu distanzieren, ist nachvollziehbar, wenn ein Rassismus-...

"Nachvollziehbar" mag sein, wenn -- warte mal, was war das da mit dem "Rassismus"?

...Vorwurf im Raum steht.

Nein. Wenn was "im Raum steht" ein blosser "Vorwurf" ist, dann erwewist die ehemalige Betreuerin sich mit ihrer übereilten Distanzierung als Vollblut-Arschloch.

For you non-German-speakers, in (my personal translation into) English:

The wish of the ex-advisor to clearly distance herself is understandable, when racism...

"Understandable" may be, if -- wait a minute, what was that about "racism"?

...has been alleged.

No. If this "racism" has only "been alleged", then the ex-advisor, in her over-eagerness to distance herself, reveals herself to be a pure-bred asshole.

MisterSandman3• 5 years ago

The link leads to a reddit post, which leads to another reddit post, which leads to this article in Swiss: https://www.nzz.ch/schweiz/hsg-und-china-kritik-auf-twitter-...

I can't read Swiss... but the comments on Reddit seem to show that this isn't as cut and dry as the title makes it sound. Quoting /u/hamsterman20:

"First of all, he was going to a chinese university with a chinese scholarship.
He left the swiss university because of some weird technicalities while attending the Chinese university.
He posted political messages against china and 1 picture depicting a chinese with yellow skin and slit eyes.
Im not surprised he was kicked out of the chinese university and that the supervisor wanted to distance themselves. Though I wish they would stand up against China, its hard when your career depends on it.
His swiss university refused to take them back. Don't know why. Technicalities I guess."

I'm sure there's still more to the story, and that it obviously isn't entirely the student's fault, but it isn't like a Swiss Student randomly tweeted about the CCP and got kicked out.

MisterSandman3• 5 years ago

Link to comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/oxmgg2/phd_student_...

denysvitali2• 5 years ago

which leads to this article in Swiss

What? There is no "Swiss" language, the article is in German

noipv4• 5 years ago

Lol, it's German. There is no Swiss language. We speak German, French, Italian and Romansch here.

eru2• 5 years ago

(Spoken) Swiss German might as well be its own language. At least since we are already accepting Dutch being different from (Low) German.

Of course in this case, the write-up is in standard high German. Google Translate handles that just fine.

Shacklz2• 5 years ago

We speak German

The Germans might see that a bit different than us ;) Jokes aside, the article was of course in German.

watwut• 5 years ago

People who speak German regularly dont understand Swiss German as it is different.

hmsshagatsea• 5 years ago

Suisse Dutsch might as well be its own language.

disabled2• 5 years ago

There are several localized Swiss dialects and there are some Swiss German formal written publications in these local Swiss dialects that other Alemannic German readers have trouble understanding.

MisterSandman3• 5 years ago

Sorry! Genuine mistake, should've probably looked it up before posting :/

ChemSpider4• 5 years ago

it isn't like a Swiss Student randomly tweeted about the CCP and got kicked out.

Based on the original article, it is pretty much exactly like that. The newspaper talked to both sides and clearly believes the student over the professor. It seems everything else are excuses by the Prof and the university (which has plenty of cooperations with China).

Now, if the student was technically enrolled at the University or the prof was "only" his PhD advisor, does not change anything about the story.

Edit: English version of the article here: https://www.nzz.ch/english/swiss-phd-students-dismissal-spot...

disgruntledphd2• 5 years ago

That article should definitely be the OP here, as it's much, much more informative than the Reddit posts.

amadsen• 5 years ago

The NZZ, for what it is worth, is probably the most highly regarded newspaper in Switzerland when it comes to journalistic integrity. It has a clear political bias to the right, but very high credibility.

tomp2• 5 years ago

The reddit comment might be Chinese propaganda.

Reading the beginning of the English version of the article [1], it looks like the student was expelled from University of St. Gallen, which definitely sounds like a Swiss university.

[1] https://www.nzz.ch/english/swiss-phd-students-dismissal-spot...

jccalhoun• 5 years ago

However, from later on in the article, "Yet throughout the spring of 2020, the university stuck to its position that when the trouble over his tweets broke out, he had long since ceased to be a St. Gallen doctoral student."

So it looks like the guy wasn't technically a student at the university at the time.

I don't know but I would guess this was some kind of technical move that is commonly done but because he kicked up some trouble, the university used this technicality as an excuse to get rid of him.

s1artibartfast• 5 years ago

Finish the article.

chrissnell• 5 years ago

Considering that the CCP paid The NY Times, LA Times, and other major papers to publish propaganda pieces and not publish COVID lab leak pieces during 2020, I don't believe much of what I read when it comes to articles that could be deemed favorable to China.

agucova• 5 years ago

Do you have evidence for this from a reputable source?

the_optimist5• 5 years ago

“ The Daily Caller first reported the multimillion-dollar expenditures on June 8, based on an 86-page Justice Department filing dated June 1.”

[0] https://dailycaller.com/2020/06/08/chinese-propaganda-china-... [1] https://efile.fara.gov/docs/3457-Amendment-20200601-2.pdf

Quanttek• 5 years ago

I recommend to continue reading the English article:

Gerber's goal was to be able to continue studying at St. Gallen. But the university argued that the professor hadn’t kicked him out; rather, he had been deregistered at his own request quite some time ago. In fact, as of the fall 2019 semester, Gerber had been officially enrolled only at the university in China, not at St. Gallen. He had been advised to take this tack by the St. Gallen doctoral program manager. In an email, the manager had said this would ensure that the maximum time allowed for pursuit of the degree would not expire while Gerber was in China. «Deregistration allows you to keep all your options on the table,» the email had said. The reregistration process would be like applying all over again – but with the support of his professor, this would be no problem, the program manager said.

It then continues to talk about the voluntary nature of the continued support. The email that was received was also sent by a Chinese student in Canada

Blikkentrekker• 5 years ago

I mostly came here to post that I was surprised that this is legal in Switzerland.

A Ph.D. student is an employee, and even normal university students can in most countries not be so easily dismissed without some show of academic misconduct.

Organizations being legally allowed to dismiss without some compelling reason or court approval is a U.S.A. idiosyncrasy.

cbg0• 5 years ago

The article in English: https://www.nzz.ch/english/swiss-phd-students-dismissal-spot...

ChemSpider4• 5 years ago

Thanks. Maybe an admin can change the URL from reddit to this?

kragen• 5 years ago

Maybe it would be better to change the URL to https://old.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/oxmgg2/phd_student_... so that we can read the comment threads more easily; the Redditors are picking apart the claims in the article from different angles, while the newspaper is not.

square_usual• 5 years ago

Great example of a clickbait headline right there. No love lost for the CCP from my side, but making stuff up is stupid. The guy burned bridges with his doctoral advisor, left the uni, went to China to study in a Chinese university and posted a racist cartoon about Chinese people. Then after they expelled him (figures) he tried to force his way back into the previous one. None of this is the least bit controversial.

ChemSpider4• 5 years ago

Where in the article do you read that?

https://www.nzz.ch/english/swiss-phd-students-dismissal-spot...

Muahaas• 5 years ago

This is misrepresenting the article quite a bit. The newspaper also sides with him after having reviewed all accounts.

He did not "burn" bridges, the relationship was very positive up until the complaint. And he "left" the Uni only temporarily because of an administrative technicality. This is a common thing in German-speaking countries. Some universities have hard limits on the total terms of study. You can avoid racking up total terms by temporarily ex-matriculating yourself.

He also only retweeted the "racist" cartoon and did not think much of it. He was not even aware it was considered to be problematic. Something like this can easily happen to anyone. Especially, in the heated debate climate of the last year.

They university did not expel him, the advisor just cut off all contact. This is more a Kafkaesque situation where the university is exploiting a technicality to comply with Chinese pressure.

ma2rten• 5 years ago

He hasn't tried to reenroll, because he was unable to find an advisor in the same department. Taking an advisor from a different department would mean to start over on his thesis. I'm not sure what would have happened if he was still enrolled in this case. It seems to me that no one can force an adviser to work with him, so this talk about enrollment is a moot point.

Also, according the professor, the only Chinese pressure was an email from a Chinese foreign student in Canada who felt offended by the cartoon. It seems like the initial email from the professor was just not worded carefully and had some speculations about visa repercussions and that is what the entire article is based on.

_tik_• 5 years ago

I am Chinese by ethnicity. He is responsible for what he share on public. He studied in China I am sure that he is aware that kind cartoon has racist connotation.

temp8964• 5 years ago

Deep down in the reddit comments there is a statement from the university, which mentioned "The former supervisor's desire to clearly distance herself is understandable when an accusation of racism is in the air." Some other comments also mentioned a "racist cartoon".

It is also mentioned in the report: https://www.nzz.ch/english/swiss-phd-students-dismissal-spot...

The writer accuses Gerber of a «racist attack on the Chinese people.» He was referring to a specific tweet: a cartoon that Gerber had posted in response to another user's tweet. It depicted a comic character that had been altered and had stereotyped Chinese features, with yellow skin tone and slit eyes. This drawing circulated on social media in the spring of 2020, and was deemed racist by some users. Gerber said he only shared the cartoon because of its political message. The underlying topic had been China's stance toward Taiwan and Hong Kong. «In retrospect, I realize I didn't question the rendering of the Chinese person enough,» he said.

So it is about "yellow skin tone and slit eyes".

This is crazy. I don't understand how is this OK. One Twitter of cartoon , you are expelled? No chance of explanation or apologize?

Even the CCP wouldn't do this. I am pretty sure a Chinese student wouldn't be expelled from the university from one single anti-CCP social media post.

spoonjim2• 5 years ago

Of course the CCP wouldn’t, only the West is capable of the self-own that is modern Victim Culture.

AnimalMuppet• 5 years ago

cough Cultural Revolution cough

Or was that sarcasm?

frenchyatwork2• 5 years ago

Isn't victim culture (somewhat legitimately) a core part of the modern Chinese national spirit?

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Century_of_humiliation

shadowgovt2• 5 years ago

If I'm an employee at a company and post something like that on Twitter, nobody should be surprised if I suddenly find myself in the unemployment line because (perhaps unbeknownst to me) my company was right in the middle of closing a big deal with a Chinese company.

Not saying it's morally correct, but those are the dynamics in play here. A university is an organization, and while the incentives and financial structure is different from, say, a manufacturing corp, the general principle of "your members will be dealt with if they burn bridges for the larger organization" applies.

dmix2• 5 years ago

The "dynamics at play" here begins and ends with the company itself making deals with authoritarian countries. The fact the brunt of the consequences trickles down to employees or students who grew up and live in a society with free expression and independent judicial systems is merely just side effects.

I find it very difficult to point the finger at those individuals.

The amount of extrapolation being done here from a single post on social media is almost ridiculous. Not to mention communicating on personal profiles, not as some representative for the company. Context and intention matter.

This will ultimately have a wider effect on society as a whole, if organizations decide to act as proxies for countries with different value systems and people bring out pitchforks over some mindless throw-away social media content. We'll end up with the society we all choose to create.

frenchyatwork2• 5 years ago

As long as it's not clearly hateful, universities typically allow greater freedom of expression than you normally get in a commercial organization, because the ability to criticize the zeitgeist and common sense belief is critical to the development of the arts & sciences.

Of course, there is typically a tension between allowing academic freedom and pleasing whoever holds the purse strings. University administrations often have to very carefully balance between upsetting their income sources and devolving into a propaganda machine.

raxxorrax• 5 years ago

We currently have a severe moral panic on the topic of racism. Almost everyone accused and not distancing themselves from anything that could be remotely associated with it makes someone guilty.

Just to remember: Racism is if you attribute properties to races, a very unscientific term, and think yourself superior to others due to these properties. Luckily, that is a quite rare occurrence today.

It doesn't have anything to do with power, it doesn't have anything to do with privilege and most people accused of it are innocent. There are exceptions of course.

tpm• 5 years ago

I am very sorry this looks like another post the pro-CCP trolls will have a feast on and severely diminish the value of Hacker News. It's sad to see another good website to go under under the onslaught of political propaganda.

To the topic, CCP influence in Western academia is a huge and growing problem the West is sleeping on to its own peril. It is probably too late now for any meaninugful fix and anyway how would that fix look like? So prepare for more self-censorship and censorship and bullying of researchers critical of CCP.

trasz3• 5 years ago

This was a Chinese-sponsored scholarship in China. But I suppose it’s fine to be a racist jerk if only you can blame CCP, right?

krzyk• 5 years ago

What does CCP acronym mean? I assume it means China, but it is not explained in the reddit thread or in the Swiss article.

chrisseaton• 5 years ago

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/CCP

Faaak• 5 years ago

China Communist Party

rattray• 5 years ago

Chinese Communist Party

Y_Y• 5 years ago

Союз Советских Социалистических Республик

AutumnCurtain• 5 years ago

The next major American geopolitical rival will have to use the acronym CP to continue the trend

metahost• 5 years ago

CCP is the acronym for Chinese Communist Party.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_Communist_Party

noxer• 5 years ago

It means Chinese Communist Party and is usual used as synonym for China if the focus is on the authoritarian regime rather than the people or the land. Only like 6% of the people in China are part of the CCP.

nomilk• 5 years ago

English version (from a reply to the top comment on reddit):

Not OP, but here's a deepl translation:

No doctorate because of a tweet: This is how far China's influence on Swiss universities extends A Swiss doctoral student tweets critically about China. Afterwards, his professor at the University of St. Gallen wants nothing more to do with him - she fears she will no longer get a visa.

When Oliver Gerber* first hears that his tweets could cost him his future doctorate, he is sitting in his old childhood bedroom. It's March 28, 2020, 9:50 p.m. Gerber's mailbox receives an e-mail from his supervisor at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). Subject: "Very urgent: complaint from China about your Twitter."

Gerber clicks on the e-mail on his smartphone. The professor writes that she has received "excited mails from China." Gerber is spreading "neo-Nazi-like content" on Twitter. This is dangerous, even for her: "In the end, even I may not be able to get a visa for China because of you. That is decidedly going too far and I would have to end our mentoring relationship." She said he should immediately moderate his political language in public. She has "no desire to receive such mails because of one of my doctoral students."

Oliver Gerber has to read the message twice. He has been tweeting for ten days, with less than ten people following him. Sure, he has sharply criticized the Chinese government. For example, on March 21, he posted in English, "The Chinese Communist Party made the fight against Covid-19 Plan B. This would only come to fruition if Plan A - cover-up - failed. This is how paranoid cowards act. They have earned neither my respect nor my gratitude. #ChinaLiedPeopleDied".

That's supposed to be "neo-Nazi-like" content? Gerber believes it's a misunderstanding. He answers at 11 p.m., wants to know from whom the "excited mails from China" originate. He asks if his professor even read the tweets. And he accuses her of having "fallen for the increasingly aggressive Chinese censorship." Nevertheless, he deactivates his Twitter account.

Oliver Gerber hears nothing more for almost 48 hours. Then the professor gets in touch again. Her tone is distant, she does not respond to Gerber's questions. She puts the second supervisor of the thesis in copy and writes that she wishes him good luck with his "Chinese studies". And further: there "is no supervisory relationship between you and us."

It is the last e-mail Gerber will receive on his HSG account. The next day, he no longer has access to the messages. An IT technician tells him on the phone that his account doesn't even exist. Gerber says, "It felt like I was eliminated overnight."

Education is central to China's global power strategy. The Chinese government wants to control the image the world has of the country. To do so, it exerts influence abroad - and does not shy away from repression. At the beginning of the year, the Chinese Foreign Ministry banned all researchers from the largest research institute in Europe specializing in China from entering the country. Such demonstrations of power intimidate researchers around the world - especially if they rely on traveling to China for work. This can lead them to preemptively avoid critical topics.

Cooperation between Swiss and Chinese universities is close, with over fifty cooperation agreements now in place. Swiss scientists benefit from stays abroad and can access large amounts of data in research, for example, to develop cancer therapies. But what is the price of this cooperation?

There are only a few people in Switzerland who disclose and criticize attempts of Chinese influence on universities. Oliver Gerber's case, however, shows that China's aggressive foreign policy can influence how scientists in Switzerland express themselves publicly and how they deal with critical votes from their students. It shows that some scientists are willing to restrict themselves and others in order not to anger China.

Oliver Gerber's name is actually different. Because his partner's family lives in China and expects repression if his name appears in the newspaper, he wants to remain anonymous. For this reason, the professor is also not mentioned by name. The NZZ has spoken to both sides.

Gerber accuses the HSG of kicking him out because of his critical tweets. The NZZ has copies of these tweets as well as Gerber's correspondence with the professor and other HSG representatives. They largely support the former doctoral student's position. However, the University of St. Gallen insists on a different version: Gerber had decided himself not to study at the HSG anymore.

How does the HSG justify this? From whom did the professor receive the "excited emails from China"? And what does this mean for freedom of opinion and research in Switzerland?

The background Oliver Gerber has a background in science, and you can tell by the way he tells his story: structured, meticulously documented, and with distance. As if it had all happened to someone else.

The fact that the events nonetheless preoccupy him greatly is evident from how often he repeats, "I can't believe that something like this happened in Switzerland." His three-year research effort: destroyed because of a tweet.

In spring 2017, Gerber will begin his doctoral studies at the HSG. He is researching environmental pollution. His topic is sensitive for China, yet it is clear to Gerber early on: he wants to understand the country, wants to do research on the ground and not from his desk in St. Gallen. He applies for scholarships and is supported by his supervisor. In the letter of recommendation, she writes: "He is capable of pursuing a high-profile research career."

Gerber is awarded a Chinese government fellowship at a university in Wuhan - for three years, instead of just one as originally planned. He flies to Wuhan in September 2018, quickly making friends and falling in love.

A Chinese professor finds his doctoral topic "boring" - a euphemism for too critical of the government. He also has to attend classes for his scholarship and can't believe how much censorship shapes everyday university life. When he submits an essay on re-education camps, he receives the lowest grade. In an e-mail to his professor in St. Gallen, he writes: "Maybe I just had bad luck."

How China is making an impact through education China has become a popular destination for students from around the world before the pandemic. In 2018, their number was nearly half a million. Just under 13 percent received scholarships from the Chinese government. To do so, China specifically selects students from countries where it has political interests.

China's economy is growing rapidly. In terms of foreign policy, the country is becoming increasingly aggressive. Western media constantly report on human rights violations such as the prison camps in Xinjiang. All of this raises fears about China. The government is aware of this.

But it also knows that China's history fascinates many. That's why China created the Confucius Institutes. There are more than 500 of them worldwide, in over 150 countries. Located on the campuses of foreign universities, the institutes are designed to teach Chinese language and culture. They are under the control of the Chinese Ministry of Education, which provides staff and funds. In Switzerland, there is only one such institute, at the University of Geneva. The second was located at the University of Basel and closed last fall.

In the United States, too, one in four Confucius Institutes has been shut down in recent years. Universities no longer wanted to lend legitimacy to an institution that defended fundamentally different values. Whereas in the West freedom of research and freedom of expression are important basic principles, education in China has become highly politicized under the rule of state and party leader Xi Jinping. For example, the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai has replaced the term freedom of expression in its statutes with "Xi Jinping's socialist ideology."

The momentous decision Oliver Gerber flies back to Switzerland shortly before Christmas 2019, originally planning only a short family visit. But then the coronavirus pandemic breaks out. On January 23, a strict lockdown is imposed on Wuhan. Gerber stays in Switzerland. He begins to think about what to do after his doctorate. His girlfriend advises him to network on social media.

Before Gerber opens a Twitter account, he seeks advice from his professor because he knows she is active on the social network. He asks via email: "Are you engaging in some degree of self-censorship? Do you think it would be too dangerous for me to open a Twitter account?"

Although he receives no reply, he begins tweeting in mid-March. At that time, China is in focus as the site of the Corona pandemic outbreak. Gerber sees his opportunity to position himself as a China expert. At the same time, he is also emotionally taken by what is happening in Wuhan - the city he wants to return to, where he has friends and a partner. His Twitter channel becomes an outlet: he criticizes the Chinese government's initial cover-up of the Corona epidemic, the repression in Xinjiang, and Xi Jinping.

When his girlfriend sees some of the tweets, she is shocked. She asks him on the phone to stop. Not because she disagrees with everything. But because she is afraid of repression from the Chinese government. "I'm in Switzerland, not China," he replies. "Here I can say what I want."

trasz3• 5 years ago

So he was not only posting racist pictures, but also spreading fake news on COVID? How surprising.

johnnyApplePRNG• 5 years ago

Talk about the Streisand Effect... [0]

There were less than 10 people following or presumably reading Gerber's tweets.

Now 10 million+ people will read them.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

oytis2• 5 years ago

Oliver Gerber is not a real name, it would be not trivial to find his twitter account. Not quite impossible too, but still too much hassle for most people (myself included).

pas• 5 years ago

Why it's not a real name?

pphysch• 5 years ago

There are literally millions of Twitter accounts posting puerile sinophobic memes/spam on Twitter on a daily basis. It's a billion-dollar industry; the USG just earmarked $1.5B specifically for anti-China propaganda [1]. Not that Gerber was getting paid for it--he's a small fish.

[1] https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/7937...

Tomte• 5 years ago

Als seine Freundin einige der Tweets sieht, ist sie schockiert. Sie bittet ihn am Telefon, damit aufzuhören. Nicht weil sie bei allem anderer Meinung wäre. Sondern weil sie sich vor Repressionen der chinesischen Regierung fürchtet. «Ich bin in der Schweiz, nicht in China», antwortet er. «Hier kann ich sagen, was ich will.»

Translation:

When his girlfriend saw some of his tweets she's aghast. She's asking him on the phone to stop. Not because she disagrees. But because she is afraid of repercussions by the Chinese government. "I'm in Switzerland, not China", he replies, "here I can say whatever I want".

Of course he should be able to speak his mind.

But when your girlfriend (who is Chinese and living in China) pleads for you to stop, maybe you should just take the hint. Not even for your sake ("I'm in Switzerland"), but for hers?

jeroenhd• 5 years ago

Isn't that exactly the point, though? Relationship trouble aside, influencing people's choice of words and freedom of expression by making their loved once fear repercussions from their government sounds exactly like the kind of abuse the Chinese government uses to crush dissent.

People who care deeply about China can't speak up to protect their people because their loved ones might fall victim to the governments wide-spread abuse of power. That's the kind of dystopia freedom of expression is meant to prevent. The fact his girlfriend felt threatened by his opinion is exactly the problem with the CCP and something we should all speak out against.

sva_• 5 years ago

What bothers me about this whole ordeal is the fact that the Chinese gov seems to keep a watch on pretty much anyone's social media it seems. This guy supposedly had like 10 to 20 followers, and the tweet in question was only a reply.

It reminds me of the time when some athlete (if my memory serves me right) expressed sympathy with HK protests, and was made to apologize to the Chinese gov. But this guy is much less known than that.

It makes me wonder to what extend the CCP keeps a watch on foreign citizens. Do we all have a file in their social credit score system?

bakuninsbart• 5 years ago

I would assume it was a reply to a popular comment, and it being a cartoon increases visibility for people clicking through.

Also not impossible that some paid or highly motivated people would reverse image search the picture in question and try to make problems for the people posting it.

I do also think that posting a racist cartoon is grounds for a professor to cut their ties to a PhD student. A PhD student isn't worth that much, and standing by them through accusations of racism is probably not worth the risk.

bsder• 5 years ago

What bothers me about this whole ordeal is the fact that the Chinese gov seems to keep a watch on pretty much anyone's social media it seems.

It's more likely that the Chinese government gives social credit for finding and outing such "troublemakers".

Thus the "Chinese student in Canada" sending the complaint.

By doing that, the Chinese government doesn't have to police everywhere. There will always be suckups willing to throw other people under the bus for tiny amounts of gain.

This is not unique to China.

disabled2• 5 years ago

Non-Swiss students have known to stay away from this university for awhile now. See: https://gmatclub.com/forum/university-of-st-gallen-hsg-mbf-2...

This is a really good overview of one of the Financial Times' top rated business school programs in the world, where this PhD student was expelled from, in Switzerland, with an extremely damning report of the program and how they cook the books to make it look like you would have a chance of making it in a place like Switzerland post-graduation.

What is really damning about it: You have zero chance of integrating unless you have an EU passport from about 8 or so countries, unless you are Swiss. It is very insightful, actually.

bigbillheck• 5 years ago

Meanwhile in America: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=201908301...

echopurity• 5 years ago

There are probably a million more examples from USA.

There's a whole industry opposed to accurate education alone:

https://reason.com/2019/09/06/alabama-dean-jamie-riley-resig...

https://time.com/6075193/critical-race-theory-debate/

villgax• 5 years ago

People seriously need to delink their ven/tweets from their personal twitter accounts

keewee7• 5 years ago

China is quickly becoming an entity that cannot be criticized.

Here in Denmark the authorities confiscated Tibetan flags among peaceful protesters because someone in the Chinese embassy was offended.

The Danish police has had a few problematic incidents in the past but confiscating flags from peaceful protestors is unheard of.

orangeyjuicey• 5 years ago

I've thought a bit about this article and here's the important points of the story that I see, with an analysis at the end:

1. He used to be a student at the swiss university (call it SGU) 2. His research is about climate change, he goes to china to do his PhD and further his knowledge and study of it, falls in love with a Chinese girlfriend (he's anonymous in the article because of, according to him, repercussions by the Chinese government on the family of his girlfriend, which makes sense because when he tweeted critically about china she told him she was scared) 3. having started his PhD at SGU, he still had a "supervisory relationship" with someone there (she used this wording when she took distance from him) 4. He went to Switzerland to visit family, and was stuck there for Covid reasons. He thought of creating a twitter account to talk about china and asked his swiss supervisor whether it would be a bad idea, and whether she self-censors herself. She did not reply. He then started tweeting against China, thinking he'd be fine because he's in Switzerland. 5. Now, he receives an email from his supervisor, saying she received "angry e-mails from china" and that she might not be able to get a visa for entering china (which her research benefits from). He then deactivates his Twitter account and asks her who sent the e-mails, which gets him no replies. Two days later, another e-mail from her says she is "terminating" her supervisory relationship with him. Some short time later his account is deleted from SGU's online system, and he does not appear on the SGU website as a PhD student. 6. His dad contacts lawyers, the journal writing the article contacts the university, and their official stand is that his relationship with the supervisor was informal, and that his account was deleted simply because he unenrolled from the university a while ago so that he could spend more time in China to finish his PhD (otherwise, the max number of years allowed by SGU to do a PhD might be exceeded). He was unable to re-enrol to SGU because he did not have a suitable supervisor anymore. 7. The supervisor, when contacted by the journal, said that the "angry e-mails from China" were one student from Canada saying one of the guy's tweets was racist (it depicted a yellow-skin, exaggerated slanted-eyed caricature and was a retweet). She said that tweet was the only reason for her actions. To that, the student said he should not have retweeted that cartoon, but that he did it only for the political message it was trying to say, which was apparently concerning the oppression of Taiwan and other countries by China. She also said he had "lost his temper" in a conversation a year earlier, which eroded her trust for him. The article says there is no hint of tension in their e-mails.

So, I understand all the comments pointing out that it's fair that he's treated that way, given the tweets he made and the fact that he was technically only a student at the Chinese university. However there's a few points in this story that stand out to me. - Firstly, the university called the relationship between the student and the supervisor "informal". There's something strange about that, because if she was an informal supervisor acting only from her personal accord, then how would his personal tweets affect her ability to get a visa? There should in fact not be much of a link between them if he's not a student of the university. - Secondly, if it really was one student from Canada complaining about his one tweet, how could it affect her visa? Especially if he takes them down, as he did right when she reported it to him. - Thirdly, if it was only that one racist tweet that motivated her actions, it would surprise me that she would not ask him to take it down.

In conclusion, I see a few possibilities. It could be that the supervisor didn't like him anymore after the tweets, and decided she didn't want to work with him anymore, and then he was trapped by the decision to unenroll to go beyond the PhD year limit. Or it could be that the supervisor was under pressure by other people's e-mails (Chinese university officials) that warned her of consequences. Given that this university has the most agreements with Chinese universities of all Switzerland, my view on this would depend on how trustable the journalist is. The article sounds a lot like he's being clear and making sense, and the supervisor and university are using technicalities and lack of clarity to make obscure (to us) decisions.

ShroudedNight2• 5 years ago

This aligns very closely to my understanding of the issue. I think the key missing piece here is the content of the offensive political cartoon.

Out of curiosity I went looking for Taiwan and HK political cartoons. The first hit I found was:

https://twitter.com/hkguy1988/status/1294855101631180806/pho...

Now, I want to be clear: I have no idea if this is the actual cartoon in question, but I could see it being criticized in all ways the mystery cartoon in question is criticized, while also being fodder to someone who is deeply frustrated with the PRC government w.r.t. its handling of SARS-CoV-2 and has no particular bones to pick in the domain of anti-Chinese racism.

So, yeah, in terms of this individuals experience and treatment, I think it's critical to know what the comic was. Especially, if we're going to choose not to trust the judgement of the publisher that this person had been treated unfairly.

The details of this series of incidents notwithstanding, I believe that The West needs to come to a consensus about how to deal with PRC influence on scholarly thought and debate. Further, I expect we're going to have to come to terms with it being costly to do so, with international subsidies being required to ensure no aligned institution is forced to compromise its scholarly criticism for survival.

traspler• 5 years ago

I‘m a bit taken aback by the responses I read here. Honestly I have no clue how anyone can be so dismissive of his story and situation as some of the people in these comments here.

volongoto• 5 years ago

After reading the English version of the article [0] shared by others in this thread, this look like the adviser has (rightfully or not) panicked and distanced herself from the PhD student (Gerber). The adviser, in her first email, mentions «angry emails from China», but then, when the journalist contacts her, she only refers to a single email from a Chinese doctoral student from Canada.

The writer [of the email] accuses Gerber of a «racist attack on the Chinese people.» He was referring to a specific tweet: a cartoon that Gerber had posted in response to another user's tweet. It depicted a comic character that had been altered and had stereotyped Chinese features, with yellow skin tone and slit eyes.
The professor's first email clearly shows that she feared she would no longer be able to obtain a Chinese visa because of Gerber's tweets.
In the early summer of 2020, Gerber decided to abandon the legal effort. He said he didn't complete the enrollment application because he couldn't find a new adviser: «There was no other professor in the same department with whom I could have finished my work. Changing topics would have meant starting from scratch again after three and a half years. That was out of the question for me.»

The article clearly sides with Gerber on the issue, but I don't think an adviser can be forced to work with a specific PhD candidate. On the other hand, I think this is an important debate:

[...] Gerber's case demonstrates that China's aggressive foreign policy can in fact influence how academics in Switzerland publicly express themselves, and how they deal with critical comments from their students. It shows that some researchers are willing to restrict their own and others’ activities in order to avoid upsetting China.

[0] https://www.nzz.ch/english/swiss-phd-students-dismissal-spot...

Ben113• 5 years ago

Shit report. 1. Would you dare not post the student's tweets and cartoons? Let everyone judge whether it is racist, and whether the doctoral student's actions are justified, whether his Chinese girlfriend's feelings are hurt, and whether his actions can go uncondemned in the name of freedom?

2. He was no longer a student at the University of St Gallen, "because he had deregistered the previous year".

3. Since there is no longer a formal supervised relationship, what's wrong with distancing yourself from the doctor because you don't agree with his actions and opinions? Doesn't the professor have that right and freedom?

4. Shouldn't any racial discrimination be condemned? Or should it be forgiven because it was directed at China? Isn't it ingratitude and biting the hand that feeds you that you are racially discriminating against Chinese people and stigmatizing them as the source of COVID-19 while having lived in China and studied for a PhD in China and on a Chinese scholarship?

5. The professor according to their own views and quoted the reaction of friends decided to terminate the guidance of residual this informal relationship, it is a personal affairs, but to drag China into the picture and make it out that China is putting pressure on the world and undermining the independence and freedom of Swiss education, and to make China a terrible threat. This is not a slur on China, but more an insult to Switzerland.

When will the news media truly treat its readers as independent, thinking individuals rather than objects of brainwashing and propaganda?

PhD student in Switzerland expelled after criticizing the CCP in Twitter

Related Stories