Rory Truex (祖若水)
@rorytruex
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Associate Professor of Politics and International Affairs @Princeton , focusing on China. . Substack:
Princeton, NJ
Joined November 2012
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Proud to be part of this letter from Princeton faculty calling for an end to the China Initiative, echoing letters by colleagues at Stanford, Berkeley, and Temple.
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Grateful for the many, many people who helped me get to this point-- especially those that provided support during some of the harder times. I will never be able to pay them all back, but I hope to use the next stage of my career to pay it forward.
Congratulations to
@rorytruex
for his promotion to Associate Professor of Politics and International Affairs!
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One cannot help but feel that China studies as we know it has fundamentally changed in the last two years. Between Kovrig/Spavor, detentions of Japanese scholars, and the NSL, the message is pretty clear. Fieldwork, archives, even language training-- it's all in jeopardy now.
@donaldcclarke
@emilyrauhala
And even if I "can" visit HK (I'm assuming that I count as a critic of China), "will" I visit HK?
I just played ball in the park with my kids. I want to keep doing that.
While parsing the law's text, I keep feeling the chill that permeates the entire document.
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Once again, it is clear you have no idea what you are talking about, but that does not seem to stop you from talking nonetheless. You have misrepresented my work and attacked my reputation. At the risk of feeding a troll, let me educate you.
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Honestly, I have trouble believing this. We know local officials in China have incentives to "juke the stats" to please the boss. This problem affects pollution, economic data coming from China. Why would health data be different? This is a core feature of its political system.
SOME GOOD NEWS: China reports ZERO new cases for yesterday. I'm an economist, so you can trust me when I tell you that's a low number.
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A couple years ago I got my lecture course on Chinese Politics filmed. I've gotten permission to put those videos up on Youtube now for public use. My hope is that this can be a good resource for anyone wanting to learn more about China.
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Thanks to my students and colleagues that supported me for this. And to all the wonderful teachers I've had over the years!
Four
#PrincetonU
faculty members received President’s Awards for Distinguished Teaching at
#Princeton21
Commencement, including professor Neta Bahcall, professor Elizabeth Gavis, professor James Richardson and assistant professor
@rorytruex
.
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The night before my job talk,
@AmaneyJamal
called me out of the blue and told me that she was rooting for me to succeed. I will never forget that call. She has taught me, time and again, that academia can be a place of kindness. We are so lucky to have her lead.
Today, incoming Dean
@AmaneyJamal
welcomed our graduate students at orientation before classes begin tomorrow.
She shared a favorite quote of hers by Kahlil Gibran: “Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolution.”♥️
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If you are looking for a lighthearted way to learn about the very serious issues going on in contemporary China, take 20 minutes and watch John Oliver's latest segment. I'm very proud to have contributed (in a small way) to the reporting in this video.
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In the name of protecting research security, the U.S. government has created a law enforcement architecture grounded in exclusion and fear, mirroring the very authoritarian society we are trying to compete with. My latest piece in The Hill:
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Hello friends, I am starting a Youtube Channel on Chinese Politics, tentatively called the ChinaVlog. My first video is on China's new constitutional amendment, slated to pass next week:
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This does constitute a real shift in rhetoric and has implications for China studies. The Party is now making it explicit that if you study the wrong thing, you will face consequences.
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Happy to contribute this piece to the
@TheAtlantic
today on how concern about China has lead us to lose our way and forget what makes American science special. The U.S. needs Chinese scientists, and we should be welcoming them, not targeting them.
"If Americans cordon off our scientific communities in the name of security,"
@rorytruex
writes, "we will be sacrificing our greatest advantage, and the core of who we are."
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This is why Republican criticism of the CCP always rings hollow to me. How can they claim to support democracy in China and abroad when they subvert it at home?
Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz constantly bash the Chinese Communist Party. They have just done more to undermine democracy worldwide and promote the CCP's authoritarian model than any US Senators in my lifetime.
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China will never have world class universities until the CCP learns to respect academic freedom and freedom of speech.
Xi urges China to build world class universities...that advance the endeavors of the Party & state in all areas, uphold Marxism as guiding ideology, nurture youth to "join the socialist cause," and guide students to "love and support" the Communist Party.
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@VinArceneaux
and I have been conducting a daily survey of Americans for a few weeks about their political attitudes. Today we wanted to share the figure below, which shows the proportion of Americans by party that identifies Biden as the winner.
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Even folks not interested in U.S.-China relations need to take 5 minutes and read the Bolton piece in the WSJ. It confirms our worst suspicions about Trump's China policy (1/6)
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"Code names" is an unfortunate journalist translation of a very common grading practice, blind grading, where student assignments are submitted anonymously. This is actually best practice, as it prevents instructors' implicit/explicit biases from entering into grading.
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Ah... China.
The CNN feed in China the moment debate turned to China.
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Thinking today of my Chinese and Chinese-American students, friends, and colleagues, who have been experiencing harassment and discrimination because of language like this from our racist president.
I will be having a news conference today to discuss very important news from the FDA concerning the Chinese Virus!
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I wrote up some thoughts on the political implications of the coronavirus for
@TheAtlantic
. I would also recommend some of
@ericfish85
's recent commentary on our Western tendency to search for the crisis that upends the CCP.
"Yet claims about the 'brittle nature' of the Communist Party’s rule reflect a certain amount of wishful thinking,"
@rorytruex
writes. The real question isn't whether democracy or authoritarianism prevails in China, but which kind of authoritarianism does.
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You attack my reputation and accuse me of self-censorship. My conscience is clear. My entire lecture files are up on Youtube: . I encourage you to watch them-- you might learn something.
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Excited to share new working paper with the great
@YueHou7
! We provide the first quantitative test of ethnic discrimination in China's criminal justice system.
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My research has quantified ethnic discrimination in China, measured public opinion on sensitive topics, and identified patterns in preemptive repression and human rights abuses in China. I am curious what you've contributed
@BaldingsWorld
.
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How many times must we trot out the "coming collapse of China" thesis before we realize it fundamentally misreads domestic politics? Any hard evidence of the "mounting discontent" in the mainland?
Is China Heading for Crisis?
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Yes, the CCP is up to no good in the U.S., and we shouldn't be naive about that. But fearmongering, villifying Chinese students, and stunting academic exchange is not the answer. Such actions will only serve to strengthen the CCP. We are an open society.
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I honestly can't come up with a single policy justification for this. It's a moronic policy, racist and xenophobic. Miller, Trump and Co. want U.S. universities to be American and white, that's what this is about.
This is HEART Breaking News 💔
I was once an F1 student
As a foreigner, I was welcomed in 🇺🇸 educated & given opportunities I could not have in my ctry
#COVID
ー19 is hard enough. With this, so many more lives will be disrupted. Many will be denied opportunities
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I have also promoted the concept of freedom of speech operations, which can allow student groups and other campus communities to preserve freedom of speech on campuses by holding regular events on topics known to be sensitive to the Chinese government.
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There are few people doing more to promote academic exchange with China than Neysun Mahboubi. Hope the U.S. govt can figure out ways to support these efforts.
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Also those crises were over in an instant, while this lingers on and will hang over China for months. The more I hear from Chinese colleagues and friends, the more it feels like this might be a critical juncture for the CCP and Xi personally.
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Always a good sign when the CCP brings back the phrase "running dog."
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Key figure from new paper with
@SheenaGreitens
on repressive experiences among China scholars (full text: ). Bars show proportion of China scholars that report experience within last ten years. 9% "taken for tea" by law enforcement, 5% had visa issues
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And when they lead us to war, they will say it was inevitable.
A new committee with a pre-set agenda supported by a strong bipartisan anti-China bias. An unmistakable recipe for conflict escalation.
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This will probably deter scholars from actually being able to travel to China, which again, is a bad thing for the CCP. The China studies population has always served as a bridge for understanding between China and the West, and this sort of rhetoric burns that bridge.
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Pleased to share a statement on ChinaFile today about new challenges to teaching China, coauthored with my wonderful colleagues
@RatiganKerry
Meg Rithmire Xiaobo Lü and
@DimitarGueorg1
. Below is a short thread about changes I will personally be making to my class.
"The coming academic year presents unique challenges for university instructors teaching content related to China," write 5 China-focused political scientists, here are their recommendations for how educators should respond.-
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I actually think this will have long term negative consequences for the CCP. They seem to think that this will dissuade China scholars from studying Xinjiang and other sensitive topics, but my guess is we will see the opposite.
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My article on gridlock in China's legislative system is now available online: Thanks to the many, many people who offered feedback and help along the way.
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My new piece out in SCMP today, where I argue about the mixed messaging coming out the Chinese govt, hindering its efforts to stabilize relations with the Western world.
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I hope I'm wrong, but my guess is that if Trump does wind up losing, he will never, ever concede this election. His narcissism prevents him from ever accepting that as an outcome-- he and his supporters will continue to live in an alternate universe.
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You know who else went through a difficult week? The protestors in Hong Kong. Or the hundreds of thousands of Muslims in Xinjiang that have been detained indefinitely on the basis of their religion.
Expected more from
@KingJames
.
My team and this league just went through a difficult week. I think people need to understand what a tweet or statement can do to others. And I believe nobody stopped and considered what would happen. Could have waited a week to send it.
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In this instance, blind grading can be a useful, easy to implement tool to protect our students-- many of whom are Chinese-- from the Chinese government. We are preserving free expression, not encouraging self-censorship.
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I so firmly believe in Pete Buttigieg and hope he has the opportunity to become our President someday.
Buttigieg on how he would convince Mike Johnson that his family is not a threat to civilization by inviting him over. Very moving. Must watch.
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Honored to work with my star student
@shen_xiaoxiao
on this project. The punchline: self-censorship in authoritarian systems might not be as widespread as we often think, though it is higher under "closed" regimes that have no opposition/electoral competition.
Excited to share this new article with my advisor
@rorytruex
in
@BJPolS
!
Our article introduces a self-censorship index created by item nonresponse rates across regime assessment questions and nonsensitive items. (1/3)
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How long before Clubhouse is banned in China? A week? A month?
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This is the part of the story where powerful people who failed to stand up to Trump for four years now try to rebrand themselves as courageous and pro-democracy.
We are witnessing absolute banana republic crap in the United States Capitol right now.
@realdonaldtrump
, you need to call this off.
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I am tired of journalists accusing China scholars of caving to the CCP. Take a day to attend a conference or read a journal and see for yourself. See work by
@mollyeroberts
@jenjpan
@MariaRepnikova
@SheenaGreitens
@yuenyuenang
@dianafutweets
and tell me that the field is craven.
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A few weeks ago I was honored by the opportunity to give a talk at Google about trends in contemporary Chinese politics. If you're interested, you can view the talk here:
#Xinjiang
#709lawyers
#WangQuanzhang
#ProjectDragonfly
#XiJinping
#Google
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Proud to know Sophie Li today!
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The world needs
@MariaRepnikova
right now. Looking forward to this one!
I'll be discussing this with
@MariaRepnikova
in just a couple of minutes on the
@SinicaPodcast
. I'll put it out early, on Wednesday next week — or subscribe to the Access newsletter from
@supchinanews
and get it Monday!
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The fact that we are trying to discern Party politics from the number of times leaders get mentioned in the People's Daily shows just how little we know about what's going on in elite politics in China
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If Republican elites fail to rebuke Donald Trump now and demand he honor the democratic process, his GOP should be considered an authoritarian regime.
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Trump has sold his country, to borrow from Chinese. On trade, on human rights, on security, on everything that matters in the U.S. China relationship, he has sold his country. Remember this when he runs on his "tough on China credentials" this fall. (6/6)
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Deep sigh. Deep deep sigh.
This is, allegedly, a public school world geography exercise used in Texas. If true, whoever wrote this up needs to be fired immediately, not just for racial stereotyping, but also for sheer stupidity and ignorance.
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I remain confused as to the purpose of the People's Daily's English language Twitter feed
Adrenaline thrill !! Get the most excitement out of cable slide!
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Send this to your parents, your idiot friends who are still going to bars, your boss who wants you to come to work, your neighbors who want playdates.
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This piece by
@isaacstonefish
is well-intentioned but misleading. American universities should stand up more for freedom of speech with respect to China, but THE PROBLEM IS THE CCP for creating this environment in the first place.
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Debate on revived China Initiative ongoing; the China Initiative was a gift to the CCP, it failed to identify and curb espionage, and created an environment of fear that sent Chinese talent back to the PRC.
. .
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Our universities should also play a part, extending opportunities to Hong Kong students that fear political persecution because of their activism. This was done to a degree in the post-Tiananmen period, and I hope we can welcome these students to our campuses in the coming years.
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Our China Center has a nice new two year postdoc position, one year at Princeton, one year at PKU. Application instructions here:
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We are working on study to show the cognitive effects of this strategy!
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Can we just sub in Obama for 2 months?
If you’re wondering whether it’s an overreaction to cancel large gatherings and public events (and I love basketball), here’s a useful primer as to why these measures can slow the spread of the virus and save lives. We have to look out for each other.
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Very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Erik
@EHWpolisci
. You make us proud!
Congratulations to the new Dr Erik Wang
@EHWpolisci
on his stellar defense, a brilliant classmate and friend who has incredible things ahead of him!!!
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Worth noting that the number of dissenting votes (2 out of 2960) in on the constitutional amendment is low even by NPC standards. M. S. Tanner collected data on this in the 1990s-- dissenting vote totals used to regularly number in the few hundred, around 10-15% of deputies.
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@NeysunM
The answer is no. The tenure process alone has aged me 5 years. Thankfully the department chose the "before" photo. 😄
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And we have a winner for "worst take" on the balloon
Maybe if the Biden Administration wasn’t so worried about banning your gas stoves, they would have seen this Chinese spy balloon coming.
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Proud of our student-athletes for helping start the
@pollheroproject
initiative! You can learn more about how to get involved here:
Princeton Student-Athletes Assist Poll Hero Project
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Still trying to grasp the fallout from the new Hong Kong NSL. But it will likely create a new group of political refugees, and one hopes that the U.S., Britain, Taiwan, and other democracies can create avenues for citizenship for Hong Kong residents that no longer feel safe.
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Well this has really come full circle.
The coronavirus is Trump’s Chernobyl—a growing catastrophe in which the government response is deadly because Trump is more worried about protecting the myths that define his alternative reality than protecting vulnerable people who will die. My column:
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A good reminder to reviewers... Just because it's anonymous, doesn't mean you can be a jerk. Treat work and the people behind it with respect.
And please be aware that people leave academia over shit like this. You are contributing to academia being an exclusionary place.
Also, seriously: Life's though enough. Peer review is already brutal. Be fucking kind to one another.
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Headline findings: Minority defendants in China have sentences 1.5-8.0 months longer than Han defendants that committed similar crimes. Sentencing is also systematically harsher in autonomous counties/prefectures where minorities live.
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What a glorious infographic.
Newly Updated Infographic: China's Leaders of Party and State
Our latest updates include appointments after the 14th Two Sessions, removal of Qin Gang and Li Shangfu, and the changing responsibilities of some politburo members.
Download pdf here:
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What are we supposed to take from this Gordon? That you are rooting for the microbe? And therefore the deaths of more Chinese people? Because that's how this reads.
Many smart people, knowing that
#China
would dominate the world, thought they should try to manage
#America
's decline. Look who's declining now. It ain't America. Funny what a tiny microbe can do.
#COVID19
#CoronavirusOutbreak
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Every time I’m lucky enough to be in a room with
@JosephTorigian
, I learn a whole lot. I’m looking forward to this book.
My book has a cover. It's available for pre-order now and comes out in three months.
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Many scholars in the China field will have received an email today from me and Sheena Greitens requesting participation in a survey. I want to confirm that this email is indeed from me and is part of a legitimate survey project. Thanks all for your participation!
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This is the study I've always wanted to see.
The causal effects of final exams on the death rate of grandmothers: "A student who is failing a class and has a final coming up is more than 50 times more likely to lose a family member than is an A student not facing any exams."
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@BeijingPalmer
Oh stop. Am I dependent on funding provided by Chinese students? Certainly not. You seem to suggest our motives are to keep the tuition pipeline flowing, rather than to combat against the stigmatization of our Chinese students. Give me a break.
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So many wonderful China books coming out this year!
OK we've done 100 books: time for a quick recap!
All titles published or coming this year. First topic...
XI, POLITICS & POWER📚
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Credit to
@onglynette
who originally made this point at the conference
Particularly interesting point here by
@rorytruex
about the flip-side of China self-censorship:
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@YuhuaWang5
I am so happy to hear this news
@YuhuaWang5
. You are such a role model for all of us, not just in your scholarship, but in your kindness, humility and generosity.
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Important to pay attention to this attack on a China scholar
Yesterday my car was sabotaged, two tyres had been interfered with; someone broke in to my garage to do it. It was only be chance I took the car into the mechanic for the six-monthly warrant and he noticed it straight away.
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Because the Senate isn't a foreign government?
Nancy Pelosi is looking for a Quid Pro Quo with the Senate. Why aren’t we Impeaching her?
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Universities are a different story, and most China scholars would agree that their institutions need to do more to stand up to the CCP. And I agree that events at Columbia, UCSD, etc. are troubling. But we need to separate scholarship on China from university administration.
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Honored to be part of this group. Please join us today to discuss how U.S. universities can best manage challenges posed by collaboration with China.
Today, 12:30ET!
@MaryGao
,
@rorytruex
,
@NeysunM
, & I discuss Research, Education, & Academic Freedom for
@Penn
Project on the Future of US-China Relations.
Tune in to hear me explain why criminal law in responding to a "China threat" relates to the
@nbcsnl
"more cowbell" sketch.
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Check out this masterpiece in great data work from
@EHWpolisci
!
Frightened Mandarins: The Adverse Effects of Fighting Corruption on Local Bureaucracy
Erik H. Wang (
@EHWpolisci
)
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Someone go ahead and give
@MargaretKLewis
her own TV show already.
Thanks to
@rosemaryCNN
for having me on
@cnni
to discuss
#Taiwan
's calm, determined resilience in the face of threats from China.
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Neglecting human rights in pursuit of the trade deal: "On the 30th anniversary of China’s massacre of pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square, Trump refused to issue a White House statement. “That was 15 years ago... Who cares about it? I’m trying to make a deal." (2/6)
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A thoughtful letter from my student Amanda Morrison to
@TheAtlantic
about the value of Western academic programs that operate in China:
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I am grateful for the thoughtful activism of our students on this issue. Without them, this would never have happened. Hopefully more change to come.
The
#PrincetonU
Board of Trustees has voted to remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from the School of Public Policy and International Affairs and residential college.
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@rzhongnotes
Yeah the hardest hit are Chinese citizens studying Chinese politics. They are directly caught in the middle, facing difficult governments on both sides.
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