Academy Protests Detainment of Chinese Scholars

As part of its continued efforts to advance human rights across the globe, the Academy has taken a stance in support of wrongfully detained Chinese scholars.

Published June 1, 2001

By Fred Moreno and Jill Stolarik
Academy Contributors

More than 350 leading scholars from approximately 14 countries have signed a petition protesting the detention of three Chinese scholars. The petition was released at a press conference co-sponsored by The New York Academy of Sciences (the Academy’s) Committee on Human Rights, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Sociological Association, and the Academic Freedom Committee of Human Rights Watch.

The open letter, addressed to Chinese President Jiang Zemin, was written by members of an international academic community working in the field of China studies. Calling the detentions “a gross violation of China’s Criminal Procedure Law,” as well as international human rights law, the academic community asks that President Zemin demonstrate China’s commitment to human rights and academic freedom by either immediately releasing the scholars or by promptly giving them the opportunity to defend themselves in court with international standards of due process.

The scholars are:

Prof. Li Shaomin, a U.S. citizen teaching business at the City University of Hong Kong

Dr. Gao Zhan, a research scholar based at American University in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Xu Zerong, an associate research professor at the Guangdong Provincial Academy of Social Sciences

Speakers at the conference included Xue Donghua, husband of Dr. Zhan; Jerome A. Cohen, Dr. Zhan’s lawyer; Professor Joel Lebowitz, member of the Academy’s Human Rights for Scientists Committee; Dr. Gilbert Rozman, Dr. Li Shaomin’s academic advisor at Princeton University; James D. Seymour, Professor at Columbia’s University’s East Asia Institute, and Song Yongyi, a Chinese scholar who was held and released a year ago on unsupported allegations of spying.

The Future of China-U.S. Relations

The future of China-U.S. relations, especially in regard to international student exchange, is being jeopardized by these actions, according to Dr. Seymour. “International student exchange plays an important role in the modernization of China,” he said. “The academic community has been roused by this pattern of detention. This unprecedented act reflects the outpouring of concern for the fate of our academic colleagues. We are aware that this is not an isolated incident.”

Dr. Gao Zhan, a researcher who has studied women’s roles in China and Taiwan, was arrested as she was leaving China for the U.S. with her husband and son. Even though her son is a U.S. citizen, he was separated from both parents for 26 days.

Chinese officials failed to inform the U.S. Embassy of the son’s detention and he was eventually found in the care of his grandparents. “Any civilized nation should and must honor freedom of expression, points of view, the right to travel and conduct research,” said Mr. Donghua. “We Chinese-Americans are disturbed by these actions, which remind us of a time in the Dark Ages when scholars were buried alive by emperors. These actions are totally unacceptable in today’s Internet Age.”

A Very Useful Effort

Dr. Zhan has been charged with spying for Taiwan, according to China’s Foreign Ministry.

What happens to detained scholars? Mr. Yongyi provided a vivid account of his experience. “I was kept in a room with one window and was watched over by two guards,” he recalled. “They watched me for 24 hours and recorded everything I said, even when I screamed in my nightmares.”

In addition to the petition, Dr. Joseph L. Birman, Chair of the Academy’s Committee on Human Rights of Scientists, has written a letter protesting the detention of Professor Li Shaomin. Dr. Shaomin, a U.S. citizen, has been kept in a “supervised residence” since February. Dr. Xu Zerong has been detained by PRC State Security officers in Guangzhou since last October.

Will a petition affect the Chinese government’s actions? Mr. Yongyi said “Yes. After the petition went out, the guards came to me and said, ‘you’re now a world-famous scholar.’ The government will listen. The petition is a very useful effort.”

Also read: Academy Aids Effort to Release Political Prisoner