The Chinese dissident legal advocate Chen Guangcheng said he was being asked to leave New York University forcefully due to the possible damage that his activism was causing in the NYUs relationship with China. Chen Guangcheng came in news after his break away from house arrest in the American Embassy in Beijing last year and the resultant diplomatic crisis after the incident.
Mr. Chen released a statement on Sunday saying the university officials were worried that his blunt criticism of the Chinese government might threaten the academic cooperation with the country. As a matter of fact, N.Y.U. has recently opened a campus in Shanghai, and a number of professors are involved in programs and research projects here that could be undermined had the Chinese visas were denied to them.
“The work of the Chinese Communists within academic circles in the United States is far greater than what people imagine, and some scholars have no option but to hold themselves back,” Mr. Chen said. Mr. Chen also said “Academic independence and academic freedom in the United States are being greatly threatened by a totalitarian regime.”
Source: Thenewyorktimes, Washingtonpost, WSJ
Global Annal 