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March 20, 2009
Exiled!
Last week or so, news among Chinese legal circles broke that He Weifang, a prominent law professor from Beijing University, transferred to a provincial-level university in Xinjiang. That university was Rockriverton, where I work. Critics have termed HWF's move as a "demotion," and more extremely as "exile," for he had advocated that China overhaul its judicial system which some cite as a tool to squelch opposition to the state.
More recently, HWF led hundreds of eminent scholars and activists in signing Charter 08, a manifesto initially circulated on the Internet calling for freedom of expression, guarantee of human rights, and democratic elections, et cetera in China. HWF's transfer to Rockriverton represented a swift conclusion to his professional uncertainty, after local party officials blocked his appointment to Zhejiang University, and after the police interrogated him about the petition. Historically, the Qing Dynasty viewed Xinjiang much like the Romanov Empire saw Siberia-- a cold, desolate, place to rid of political dissidents.
In this particular case, however, official reports claim that Beijing University relocated HWF for two years as part of an academic cooperation program between the two schools. In fact, he is one of many professors I have heard of or met here on this "exchange program." (This leads me to wonder how many of them had somehow pissed off the Party and ended up here like HWF.) Like I mentioned in December, Rockriverton acts as the administrative center for the XPCC, the primary organ of Chinese economic development, environmental exploitation, and governmentality in the region. Thus, it is no wonder that Rockriverton University receives priority funding and overqualified professors from the east coast over the other colleges in Xinjiang; improving the educational system here is one way to strengthen Han Chinese presence in the region. And do those students and teachers at the other universities resent it.
HWF himself blandly stated to the Oriental Morning Post of Shanghai, "it's not that bad there. I can go experience the life and culture there in Xinjiang." His colleague ZZH, however, said, "Of course the teaching facility and living environment in Xinjiang will not be as good as it is here in Beijing." ZZH's comments echo the typical attitudes of east-coasters who view Beijing as the center of the universe, who forget that the city also can be polluted, crowded, and overwhelming. In fact, the only pleasant experience I have had so far, other than the usual tourist routes, was traveling on the airport express train a few days ago. This nice memory was overshadowed by another incident from my previous visit there in 2007: I had a bloody nose three days in a row in Beijing because the air was so dusty and contaminated.
For ZZH automatically to condemn Xinjiang is rather unfair and untruthful. Some of us do enjoy Xinjiang much more than Beijing. Besides, the reason why life in Beijing continues to exceed at this breathtaking pace is because of all the natural resources the east coast is stripping away from this region. Thankfully, HWF recognizes that the streets here are less congested, while the air more fresh, and the water sweet. I do feel very sympathetic towards him, but with modern technology these days, exile is only a state of mind, and the students at Rockriverton will greatly benefit from his presence on campus.
This news story also questions how integrated I am with the rest of community here. Ironically, the first time I heard about HWF was from two sources, one in Beijing and other in New York. Based on a description given in HWF's blog, though, he apparently lives in my apartment complex. ("Surrounding my place of residence are restaurants that serve Halal, ... Yunnan noodles, Shandong dumplings, and Chongqing hot pot." These are haunts that I frequent on a rotational basis.)
Hearing about HWF from foreign sources when he resides in the next building over indicates not only my utter incompetence in Mandarin, but also the black curtain on news enforced by school officials to keep foreigners in the dark. The sad truth remains that my social circles and information sources revolve around the foreign teachers, my students, a few colleagues, a smattering of local friends in Rockriverton and Urumqi... and the internet. Lastly, HWF notes in the end of his blog that he teaches only six hours per week-- on the introduction to the judicial system and on jurisprudence. This is a third of my workload this semester. I've been totally screwed by my department!
Posted on March 20, 2009 10:43 AM
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