MCLC: seven silence (2,3,4)

[Denton, Kirk]

MCLC LIST
From: Laughlin, Charles <cal5m at eservices.virginia.edu>
Subject: seven silences (2)
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I'm glad Saiyin brought this up because, while it had also been my
experience that there is much greater freedom of speech in classrooms at
Beida and Tsinghua than one would imagine from the western press, I was
ready to believe that there could always be some kind of crackdown. This
would not be easy to enforce, however, and could easily deteriorate into a
cultural revolution-like he said, she said chaos of voices vying for
ideological purity.

Harpham's account is also wonderful; before he got to his answer, I was
keenly reminded of the narrator of Lu Xun's "Zhu fu," confronted with
Xianglin's wife's question, and I was afraid the result was going to be
similar, but his answer was a fine one after all.

As more Americans and Europeans (many or most outside the fields of
Chinese studies) go to lecture or teach in China, it's important for us
who may be called upon for advice to remind them not to self-censor in the
Chinese classroom, but just call it as they see it.

Charles Laughlin
UVA

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From: Gregory Kaplan <gkaplan at bridge21.us>
Subject: seven silences (3)

This is not a comment on Professor Harpham's reply to his student's query.
 But it is a comment on the issue of rhetoric and convenience over
truthfulness and seriousness of purpose.  As a newcomer to Chinese
university life myself, I am truly shocked that the Professor had never
anticipated this most obviously expectable of questions put to him by a
student.  Moreover, it disappoints me to imagine that an esteemed
Professor visiting China counts himself as "one who knows only what he
reads in the Western press."  Given the proliferation of sources in
English from and about China (and leaving aside the diverse voices heard
here on MCLC!), could he have not accessed The China Daily or Xinhua or
any number (too many!) of sympathetic or even critically sympathetic
internet outlets?  No one here can answer this rhetorical question.  But I
would contend that pleading ignorance about China is getting a bit stale.

Gregory

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From: kevin carrico (kjc83 at cornell.edu)
Subject: seven silences (4)

I am glad to hear that Prof. Sun does not face these restrictions.
However, according to today's Ming Pao (article included below), there
have been multiple confirmations of this order in Beijing and
Shanghai, meaning that it is not just a "rumor."

Nevertheless, in my view, this order remains less a matter of
enforcing new restrictions than simply rendering taboos (sometimes
violated) explicit.

Kevin

Source: Ming Pao: http://news.mingpao.com/20130511/gaa1.htm

京滬大學遭令「七不講」
禁談新聞自由普世價值 教授：課堂無話可說

【明報專訊】北京與上海有大學近日流傳中央推出「7個不要講」禁令，要求教師不要與
學生討論「普世價值、新聞自由、公民社會、公民權利、黨的歷史錯誤、權
貴資產階級、司法獨立」話題。最少兩名內地學者向本報證實有關消息，並指是開會時校
方領導口頭通知，估計將長期執行。有網民批評「7個不要講統稱為一個不
要臉」，有評論員認為禁令反而提醒國人這是現今體制七大弊端。本報昨向中宣部及教育
部查詢，截稿前未獲回覆。

批「這還是大學嗎」微博遭封

微博用戶「新常識2016」昨披露﹕「各高校已向每位教師傳達了『7個不要講』的精神，要
求教師不要對學生談及『普世價值、新聞自由、公民社會、公
民權利、黨的歷史錯誤、權貴資產階級、司法獨立』等」。該用戶批評，「如此直接地干
預教師的教學自由，如此明確具體地限制教師的教學內容，近年來尚屬首
次。但是，連新聞自由、公民權利都不能談，這還是大學嗎？」

「新常識2016」強調並無造謠，表示願與官方機關對質。但不久此帳號就遭封鎖，相關留
言也被悉數剷除。有網民指出，「新常識2016」是上海一名
張姓大學教師的微博，本報向張查證，他稱事件敏感，不願再談。中國勞動關係學院教授王
江松亦在微博證實，「我校也傳達了中央的7點指示精神」，但留言後來
亦被刪除。

多口頭傳達 未知推行目的

有教育界知情人士向本報證實，「這個本來就是事實」，但他們都是聽校內領導口頭傳
達，沒能看到文件原文，「文件肯定不會發給每一個人，只會發到學
校，聯合學校傳達文件，通過開會的方式講」。一名要求匿名的教授表示，校方傳達時沒有
透露禁令推行目的，他認為該禁令「不會說什麼時候撤銷」。

重慶等地有高校人士稱未收到通知。有教授在網上留言稱，即使收到命令也不會禁言，否
則在課堂上無話可說。華東政法大學憲法學教授童之偉在微博留言質疑這種「發私
密文件治國」的做法，認為該通知「不合憲不合法」。有網民引述國家主席習近平提出的
「要容得下尖銳批評」言論，反問「7個不要講」該怎麼解釋。

地產商任志強也認為「要把權力關進籠子，就不能沒有新聞自由」。

學者：出發點都是維穩

「有其他高校的教授看過這份文件。」北京理工大學教授胡星斗向本報表示，他聽說過這
個消息，但不清楚具體情。他認為當局「一切工作的出發點都是為
了維穩」，估計是由於現時社會形勢比較嚴峻，人民不滿的聲音非常大，所以向大學傳達
「7個不要講」精神，「可是這樣也就等於走進了死胡同」。

京專家﹕反提醒7關鍵弊端

北京政治評論員章立凡也表示聽聞該禁令，他認為，中共在民主自由層面的言論尺度逐年
收緊，但手法太陳舊、落後，「『7個不要講』其實是『兩個凡是』的發展」。他
說，「黨的歷史錯誤」主要是指毛澤東掌權幾十年所犯的錯誤，另外還包含鄧小平以來各
代領導人所犯的錯誤。他表示，當局推出7個不能觸及的禁區，實際上反而是在提
醒大家，這是中國現今體制上的7個關鍵弊端。