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You are here: Home / CCS Cases / China / Civil Engineering Student At Hunan City University Expelled for Expressing Opinion on Blog

Civil Engineering Student At Hunan City University Expelled for Expressing Opinion on Blog

January 15, 2019

Wang Dong, a Civil Engineering student at Hunan City University was expelled from the school for posting a controversial message on a blog. It is essential that students, as part of their education, be allowed to think and speak freely. CCS has written the President of Hunan City University requesting that he review this case and reverse the decision to expel this student.

January 14, 2019

Li Jianqi
President
Hunan City University
No. 518 Yingbin East Road
Yiyang, Hunan Province 413000
People’s Republic of China

Dear President Jiangi:

The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.
We write to express our concern for Wang Dong, a civil engineering student at Hunan City University, who was expelled merely for something he posted on the Chinese blogging site Weibo on September 19.

While what he posted was controversial, and perhaps to some offensive, in exercising his basic right to peaceful free expression, Wang Dong has done nothing worthy of such an extreme punishment. We encourage you to review this case and consider allowing Wang Dong to return to his studies, and to adopt more lenient policies that protect, rather than punish, students who choose to exercise their right to free expression.

In order for academic freedom to flourish at a university, students must be allowed to think and speak freely, and we urge you to seek ways to respect the rights of your students.

Thank you for your attention to this most important matter, and we look forward to receiving your response.

Sincerely,
Joel L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists

cc:
Ambassador Cui Tiankai
Embassy of the People’s Republic of China
3505 International Place NW
Washington DC 20008
Phone: 1 202 495 2266
Fax: 1 202 495 2138
Email: chinaembpress_us@mfa.gov.cn OR chineseembassyspokesperson@gmail.com

Filed Under: China Tagged With: Dong, Expelled, wang, Wang Dong

Who We Are

Co-chairs

Joel L. Lebowitz, Rutgers University

Paul H. Plotz, M.D., Washington, DC

Walter Reich, George Washington University

Eugene Chudnovsky, Lehman College

Alexander Greer, Brooklyn College

Vice-chairs

Astronomy – Arno Penzias, New Enterprises Associates*

Biology – Max E. Gottesman, Columbia University

Chemistry – Zafra Lerman, MIMSAD Inc.

Computer Science – Jack Minker, University of Maryland, College Park

Engineering – Philip Sarachik, NYU Polytechnic School of Engineering

Mathematics – Simon Levin, Princeton University

Medical Sciences – J. Joseph Blum, Duke University

National Sponsors

Nancy Andrews, Duke University

David Baltimore, California Institute of Technology*

Alan J. Bard, University of Texas

Jacob Bigeleisen (deceased), SUNY, Stony Brook

Raoul Bott (deceased), Harvard University

Owen Chamberlain (deceased), University of California, Berkeley

Stanley Deser, Brandeis University

Edward Gerjuoy, University of Pittsburg

Pierre Hohenberg, New York University

James Langer, University of California, Santa Barbara

Peter Lax, New York University

Louis Nirenberg, New York University

Marshall Nirenberg (deceased), National Institutes of Health*

National Sponsors

John C. Polanyi, University of Toronto*

Stuart Rice, University of Chicago

Myriam Sarachick, City College of New York

Harold Scheraga, Cornell University

Sylvan Schweber, Brandeis University

Maxine Singer, Carnegie Institution of Washington

Alfred I. Tauber, Boston University

Steven Weinberg, University of Texas, Austin*

Myrna Weissman, Columbia University

Rosalyn S. Yalow (deceased), Mount Sinai School of Medicine*

* Nobel laureate

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