MCLC: No room for western values in university education (4)

[MCLC LIST]

MCLC LIST
No room for western values in university education (4)
From: A. E. Clark <aec at raggedbanner.com>
While I enjoyed Professor Shen Kui’s astute questions for the Minister of Education, I think a more forceful response is warranted. Minister Yuan declared, “决不允许各种违反宪法和法律的言论在大学课堂蔓延” (“it is absolutely forbidden to have all kinds of speech that violates the Constitution and the law spread in university classrooms” — trans. Donald Clarke). The suggestion that some kinds of speech violate the Constitution (which enshrines freedom of speech) is intriguing, but there is a more acute problem. Article 41 declares that citizens have a right to criticize and make complaints about (提出批评和建议的权利) state organizations and officials; that “the state organ concerned must deal with them in a responsible manner after ascertaining the facts” and that [emphasis added] “No one may suppress (任何人不得压制) such complaints, charges and exposures, or retaliate against the citizens making them.” By demanding the suppression of critical speech in universities, Minister Yuan undermines the Constitution.
In more placid times, his error might have been corrected through discussion and perhaps a reprimand.  But under General Secretary Xi a more vigorous discipline has come into play, one that does not shrink from making examples of high officials. May I look forward to the arrest of Yuan Guiren on a charge of subversion? This need not cut short the debate, since there are now so many intellectuals in Beijing prisons that ex-Minister Yuan would enjoy an unprecedented opportunity to explore the issue with thoughtful interlocutors.
by denton.2 at osu.edu on February 3, 2015
You are subscribed to email updates from MCLC Resource Center  
To stop receiving these emails, click here.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osu.edu/pipermail/mclc/attachments/20150203/7fe0fe63/attachment.html>