Oliver Gerber has a scientific background, and this can be seen in the way he tells his story: structured, meticulously documented and with distance. As if all this had happened to someone else.
The fact that events still occupy him strongly is shown by how often he repeats: "I can't believe that such a thing happened in Switzerland." His three years of research: destroyed because of a tweet.
Gerber begins his doctoral studies at the HSG in spring 2017. He conducts research in the field of pollution. His topic is sensitive for China, but it is clear to Gerber early on: He wants to understand the country, wants to conduct research on the ground and not from his desk in St. Gallen. He applies for scholarships and is supported by the supervisor. In the letter of recommendation, she writes: "He is able to pursue a high-quality research career."
Gerber receives a scholarship from the Chinese government at a university in Wuhan - for three years, instead of only for one as originally planned. In September 2018, he flies to Wuhan, quickly makes friends and falls in love.
A Chinese professor finds his doctoral topic "boring" - a euphemism for too critical of the government. He must also attend courses for his scholarship and cannot believe how much censorship shapes everyday university life. When he submits an essay on re-education camps, he receives the worst grade. In an e-mail to his professor in St. Gallen he writes: "Maybe I was just unlucky."
During his research stay in China, Oliver Gerber meets his girlfriend. She will warn him later about tweets that are too critical. During his research stay in China, Oliver Gerber meets his girlfriend. She will warn him later about tweets that are too critical. How China influences through education
China has become a popular destination for students from all over the world before the pandemic. In 2018, their number was almost half a million. Almost 13 percent received a scholarship from the Chinese government. To this end, China specifically selects students from countries in which it pursues political interests.
China's economy is growing rapidly. From a foreign policy point of view, the country is becoming increasingly aggressive. Western media constantly report on human rights violations such as the penal camps in Xinjiang. All of this arouses fears about China. The government is aware of this.
But she also knows that China's history fascinates many. That's why China has created the Confucius Institutes. There are more than 500 of them worldwide, in over 150 countries. Located on the campus of foreign universities, the institutes are to teach Chinese language and culture. They report to the Chinese Ministry of Education, which provides personnel and funds. In Switzerland, there is only one such institute left, at the University of Geneva. The second was located at the University of Basel and was closed last autumn.
In the USA, too, one in four Confucius Institute has been closed in recent years. The universities did not want to give any institution more legitimacy that defends fundamentally different values. While freedom of research and expression are important basic principles in the West, education in China is strongly politicized under the rule of head of state and party Xi Jinping. For example, the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai has replaced the term freedom of expression in its statutes with "Xi Jinping's socialist ideology".
The momentous decision
Oliver Gerber flies back to Switzerland shortly before Christmas 2019, originally he is only planning a short family visit. But then the coronavirus pandemic breaks out. On the 23rd January, a strict lockdown is imposed on Wuhan. Gerber stays in Switzerland. He starts to think about what should happen after his doctorate. His girlfriend advises him to network on social media.
Before Gerber opens a Twitter account, he seeks advice from his professor because he knows that she is active on the social network. He asks by e-mail: "Do you do a certain degree of self-censorship? Do you think it would be too dangerous for me to open a Twitter account?"
Although he does not receive an answer, he begins tweeting in mid-March. At this time, China is in the focus as a place of the outbreak of the corona pandemic. Gerber sees his chance to position himself as a China expert. At the same time, it also emotionally takes him with it what happens in Wuhan - in the city to which he wants to return, where he has friends and a partner. His Twitter channel becomes a valve: He criticizes the initial concealment of the corona epidemic by the Chinese government, the repression in Xinjiang and Xi Jinping.
When his girlfriend sees some of the tweets, she is shocked. She asks him on the phone to stop. Not because she disagrees on everything. But because she is afraid of repression by the Chinese government. "I'm in Switzerland, not in China," he replies. Here I can say what I want.
Swiss universities and their China connection
Cooperation between Chinese and Swiss universities has been expanded in recent years. The HSG has fifteen agreements and thus almost twice as many as ETH. In addition, there has been a China Competence Center at HSG for eight years, the aim of which is to strengthen and deepen productive relations with China. On request, it is in St. Gallen, problems have never been found in cooperation with Chinese universities.
Last year, the Swiss intelligence service warned in a management report about Chinese spies disguised themselves as students or researchers. Recently, the connections of Swiss universities to China were also an issue in parliament. Two parliamentarians asked in advance about the principles and guidelines of cooperation. The Federal Council replied that the universities themselves had to weigh up what cooperations they entered into. There is no concrete feedback from influence in the sense of curtailing academic freedoms.
Ralph Weber, China expert and professor at the University of Basel, criticizes that the Swiss universities often examined their foreign partners too little - especially the Chinese ones. In some sectors of the economy, it is normal for important transactions to examine the constraints under which a partner functions. I miss such an approach at many universities.
From Weber's point of view, clear rules and above all red lines are needed. Otherwise, there is a great danger that Swiss universities will say to themselves: "This is China, there is no other way." And would therefore compromise on one's own values. The Swiss universities seem to have recognized the problem: they want to develop joint guidelines for cooperation with China for the first time within the framework of the umbrella organization of Swiss universities.
After Gerber has read the e-mail in which his professor writes that there is no longer a care relationship, he desperately turns to his father. He contacts a lawyer. On the advice of his girlfriend, Oliver Gerber compiles a dossier with e-mails between him and his most important contact persons at the HSG the same evening. His lawyer will write several letters to the university management in the coming weeks.
After the first e-mail from his professor, Gerber still believed in a misunderstanding. The second e-mail leaves him desperately behind. After the first e-mail from his professor, Gerber still believed in a misunderstanding. The second e-mail leaves him desperately behind. Gerber's goal is that he can continue his studies at the HSG. But the university argues that the professor did not throw him out, but that he had long since been exmatriculated at his own request. In fact, from the autumn semester 2019, Gerber will only be enrolled at the Chinese university, not at the HSG. The manager of the doctoral programs at the HSG had advised him to do this. He wrote by e-mail that the maximum duration for the conclusion could not expire while Gerber is in China. Exmatriculation also leaves you every choice. Reimmatriculation is like a new application, but with the support of his professor this is not a problem.
Gerber follows this advice and temporarily exmatriculates in St. Gallen. The program manager writes: "A wise decision." Gerber will continue to be listed as a doctoral student on the university's website for the time being. The professor looks after him as before - until the complaint about his tweet. For example, she asks him to send an outline after a Skype meeting. On the 21. February 2020, a few weeks before she declares the care relationship to be non-existent, she writes: "It is great how well you have already made progress in China!"
Although Gerber can document all this, the university maintains its position in spring 2020 that he was no longer an HSG doctoral student than it broke because of his tweets. The ombudsman of the university does not want to deal with the case for this reason either. The HSG informs Gerber that he must apply completely new if he wants to continue his studies. And that he had to look for a new professor who would look after him.
The professor will only inform you which tweet the "excited mails from China" refer to and from whom they come at the request of the NZZ. She received a message from a Chinese doctoral student who is researching at a Canadian university. The e-mail is available to the NZZ, but the name of the sender has been blackened - according to the professor at the request of the author.
The author accuses Gerber of a racist attack on the Chinese people. It refers to a specific tweet: a cartoon that Gerber had posted in response to another user's tweet. It shows a comic character that has been modified and has stereotypical Chinese characteristics: yellow skin tone, slit eyes. In the spring of 2020, this drawing circulated on social media and was classified as racist by some users. Gerber says he shared the cartoon only because of its political statement. China's attitude to Taiwan and Hong Kong is addressed. In retrospect, I realize that I have questioned too little about the portrayal of the Chinese person.
The professor says she pointed out to Gerber that he can no longer pretend to be an HSG doctoral student on Twitter because he exmatriculated last year. This has absolutely nothing to do with the topics of China or censorship. It was an oversight that she wrote in the plural of "excited mails from China", even though she only received one e-mail - namely from Canada. She wanted to make it clear that further reactions could be expected. The phrase "then I would have to end the supervision relationship" referred to the informal consultation she provided "at the request of the doctoral student". The fact that Gerber was listed as such on the HSG website by the end of March is simply due to a failure.
The professor further explains that the relationship of trust was burdened because Gerber had "out of print" in a conversation a year earlier and explained to her that he no longer wanted to continue his doctorate at the HSG in any form and no longer needs her as a doctoral mother. Gerber denies this. He only considered striving once for a double degree from both universities. There is no indication of tensions in the e-mails between the two from 2019, which are available to the NZZ.
The professor writes about "excited mails from China". Later she says that only one person contacted her: a Chinese doctoral student from Canada. The professor writes about "excited mails from China". Later she says that only one person contacted her: a Chinese doctoral student from Canada. Whether the professor has received "excited mails from China", as she herself wrote, cannot be finally judged. However, China can also exert pressure with the policy of issuing visas. The professor's first mail clearly shows that she was afraid that she would no longer get a visa for China because of Gerber's tweets. This also explains how quickly she broke off the contact - despite the fact that Gerber immediately deactivated his Twitter profile. Were there additional economic interests involved? The HSG says that the professor's department has never received funds or other support from Chinese companies or other Chinese actors.
The afterplay
How does the HSG assess the case today? Vice President Ulrich Schmid says: "The HSG is unreservedly committed to freedom of teaching and research. However, freedom of research is in no way affected here, since these are private statements of the former doctoral student, which he has published via a social network." You can't comment on the tweets. But the fact that they obviously caused a lot of discussion and were perceived as racist justifies the professor's desire to distance herself clearly from it.
Schmid emphasizes that Gerber's care after exmatriculation was "purely voluntary" and had an "informal character". It is "good right" of the professor to terminate it at any time if the relationship of trust is disturbed. Furthermore, Gerber did not make a complete application for re-enrollment, but tried to force his rhyme enrollment.
In the early summer of 2020, Gerber decided to give up legal efforts. He says he did not complete the application for enrollment because he did not find a new supervisor: "There was no other professor in the same field where I could have finished writing my work. Changing the subject would have meant starting from scratch after three and a half years. That was out of the question for me."
Gerber has long considered whether he should make the case public. He hopes for a debate about how China influences Swiss universities.
Today Gerber says that having started tweeting was a mistake. The fact that he was able to lose three years of research as a result still leaves him stunned. Yes, he took a China-critical path and once shared a cartoon that he would no longer share today. But I didn't do anything wrong.
Gerber has given up his doctorate. He says: "I don't want to have to censor myself - certainly not in Switzerland". Meanwhile, he has found a job that has nothing to do with China.
Oliver Gerber has a scientific background, and this can be seen in the way he tells his story: structured, meticulously documented and with distance. As if all this had happened to someone else.
The fact that events still occupy him strongly is shown by how often he repeats: "I can't believe that such a thing happened in Switzerland." His three years of research: destroyed because of a tweet.
Gerber begins his doctoral studies at the HSG in spring 2017. He conducts research in the field of pollution. His topic is sensitive for China, but it is clear to Gerber early on: He wants to understand the country, wants to conduct research on the ground and not from his desk in St. Gallen. He applies for scholarships and is supported by the supervisor. In the letter of recommendation, she writes: "He is able to pursue a high-quality research career."
Gerber receives a scholarship from the Chinese government at a university in Wuhan - for three years, instead of only for one as originally planned. In September 2018, he flies to Wuhan, quickly makes friends and falls in love.
A Chinese professor finds his doctoral topic "boring" - a euphemism for too critical of the government. He must also attend courses for his scholarship and cannot believe how much censorship shapes everyday university life. When he submits an essay on re-education camps, he receives the worst grade. In an e-mail to his professor in St. Gallen he writes: "Maybe I was just unlucky."
During his research stay in China, Oliver Gerber meets his girlfriend. She will warn him later about tweets that are too critical. During his research stay in China, Oliver Gerber meets his girlfriend. She will warn him later about tweets that are too critical. How China influences through education
China has become a popular destination for students from all over the world before the pandemic. In 2018, their number was almost half a million. Almost 13 percent received a scholarship from the Chinese government. To this end, China specifically selects students from countries in which it pursues political interests.
China's economy is growing rapidly. From a foreign policy point of view, the country is becoming increasingly aggressive. Western media constantly report on human rights violations such as the penal camps in Xinjiang. All of this arouses fears about China. The government is aware of this.
But she also knows that China's history fascinates many. That's why China has created the Confucius Institutes. There are more than 500 of them worldwide, in over 150 countries. Located on the campus of foreign universities, the institutes are to teach Chinese language and culture. They report to the Chinese Ministry of Education, which provides personnel and funds. In Switzerland, there is only one such institute left, at the University of Geneva. The second was located at the University of Basel and was closed last autumn.
In the USA, too, one in four Confucius Institute has been closed in recent years. The universities did not want to give any institution more legitimacy that defends fundamentally different values. While freedom of research and expression are important basic principles in the West, education in China is strongly politicized under the rule of head of state and party Xi Jinping. For example, the prestigious Fudan University in Shanghai has replaced the term freedom of expression in its statutes with "Xi Jinping's socialist ideology".
The momentous decision
Oliver Gerber flies back to Switzerland shortly before Christmas 2019, originally he is only planning a short family visit. But then the coronavirus pandemic breaks out. On the 23rd January, a strict lockdown is imposed on Wuhan. Gerber stays in Switzerland. He starts to think about what should happen after his doctorate. His girlfriend advises him to network on social media.
Before Gerber opens a Twitter account, he seeks advice from his professor because he knows that she is active on the social network. He asks by e-mail: "Do you do a certain degree of self-censorship? Do you think it would be too dangerous for me to open a Twitter account?"
Although he does not receive an answer, he begins tweeting in mid-March. At this time, China is in the focus as a place of the outbreak of the corona pandemic. Gerber sees his chance to position himself as a China expert. At the same time, it also emotionally takes him with it what happens in Wuhan - in the city to which he wants to return, where he has friends and a partner. His Twitter channel becomes a valve: He criticizes the initial concealment of the corona epidemic by the Chinese government, the repression in Xinjiang and Xi Jinping.
When his girlfriend sees some of the tweets, she is shocked. She asks him on the phone to stop. Not because she disagrees on everything. But because she is afraid of repression by the Chinese government. "I'm in Switzerland, not in China," he replies. Here I can say what I want.
Swiss universities and their China connection
Cooperation between Chinese and Swiss universities has been expanded in recent years. The HSG has fifteen agreements and thus almost twice as many as ETH. In addition, there has been a China Competence Center at HSG for eight years, the aim of which is to strengthen and deepen productive relations with China. On request, it is in St. Gallen, problems have never been found in cooperation with Chinese universities.
Last year, the Swiss intelligence service warned in a management report about Chinese spies disguised themselves as students or researchers. Recently, the connections of Swiss universities to China were also an issue in parliament. Two parliamentarians asked in advance about the principles and guidelines of cooperation. The Federal Council replied that the universities themselves had to weigh up what cooperations they entered into. There is no concrete feedback from influence in the sense of curtailing academic freedoms.
Ralph Weber, China expert and professor at the University of Basel, criticizes that the Swiss universities often examined their foreign partners too little - especially the Chinese ones. In some sectors of the economy, it is normal for important transactions to examine the constraints under which a partner functions. I miss such an approach at many universities.
From Weber's point of view, clear rules and above all red lines are needed. Otherwise, there is a great danger that Swiss universities will say to themselves: "This is China, there is no other way." And would therefore compromise on one's own values. The Swiss universities seem to have recognized the problem: they want to develop joint guidelines for cooperation with China for the first time within the framework of the umbrella organization of Swiss universities.
After Gerber has read the e-mail in which his professor writes that there is no longer a care relationship, he desperately turns to his father. He contacts a lawyer. On the advice of his girlfriend, Oliver Gerber compiles a dossier with e-mails between him and his most important contact persons at the HSG the same evening. His lawyer will write several letters to the university management in the coming weeks.
After the first e-mail from his professor, Gerber still believed in a misunderstanding. The second e-mail leaves him desperately behind. After the first e-mail from his professor, Gerber still believed in a misunderstanding. The second e-mail leaves him desperately behind. Gerber's goal is that he can continue his studies at the HSG. But the university argues that the professor did not throw him out, but that he had long since been exmatriculated at his own request. In fact, from the autumn semester 2019, Gerber will only be enrolled at the Chinese university, not at the HSG. The manager of the doctoral programs at the HSG had advised him to do this. He wrote by e-mail that the maximum duration for the conclusion could not expire while Gerber is in China. Exmatriculation also leaves you every choice. Reimmatriculation is like a new application, but with the support of his professor this is not a problem.
Gerber follows this advice and temporarily exmatriculates in St. Gallen. The program manager writes: "A wise decision." Gerber will continue to be listed as a doctoral student on the university's website for the time being. The professor looks after him as before - until the complaint about his tweet. For example, she asks him to send an outline after a Skype meeting. On the 21. February 2020, a few weeks before she declares the care relationship to be non-existent, she writes: "It is great how well you have already made progress in China!"
Although Gerber can document all this, the university maintains its position in spring 2020 that he was no longer an HSG doctoral student than it broke because of his tweets. The ombudsman of the university does not want to deal with the case for this reason either. The HSG informs Gerber that he must apply completely new if he wants to continue his studies. And that he had to look for a new professor who would look after him.
The professor will only inform you which tweet the "excited mails from China" refer to and from whom they come at the request of the NZZ. She received a message from a Chinese doctoral student who is researching at a Canadian university. The e-mail is available to the NZZ, but the name of the sender has been blackened - according to the professor at the request of the author.
The author accuses Gerber of a racist attack on the Chinese people. It refers to a specific tweet: a cartoon that Gerber had posted in response to another user's tweet. It shows a comic character that has been modified and has stereotypical Chinese characteristics: yellow skin tone, slit eyes. In the spring of 2020, this drawing circulated on social media and was classified as racist by some users. Gerber says he shared the cartoon only because of its political statement. China's attitude to Taiwan and Hong Kong is addressed. In retrospect, I realize that I have questioned too little about the portrayal of the Chinese person.
The professor says she pointed out to Gerber that he can no longer pretend to be an HSG doctoral student on Twitter because he exmatriculated last year. This has absolutely nothing to do with the topics of China or censorship. It was an oversight that she wrote in the plural of "excited mails from China", even though she only received one e-mail - namely from Canada. She wanted to make it clear that further reactions could be expected. The phrase "then I would have to end the supervision relationship" referred to the informal consultation she provided "at the request of the doctoral student". The fact that Gerber was listed as such on the HSG website by the end of March is simply due to a failure.
The professor further explains that the relationship of trust was burdened because Gerber had "out of print" in a conversation a year earlier and explained to her that he no longer wanted to continue his doctorate at the HSG in any form and no longer needs her as a doctoral mother. Gerber denies this. He only considered striving once for a double degree from both universities. There is no indication of tensions in the e-mails between the two from 2019, which are available to the NZZ.
The professor writes about "excited mails from China". Later she says that only one person contacted her: a Chinese doctoral student from Canada. The professor writes about "excited mails from China". Later she says that only one person contacted her: a Chinese doctoral student from Canada. Whether the professor has received "excited mails from China", as she herself wrote, cannot be finally judged. However, China can also exert pressure with the policy of issuing visas. The professor's first mail clearly shows that she was afraid that she would no longer get a visa for China because of Gerber's tweets. This also explains how quickly she broke off the contact - despite the fact that Gerber immediately deactivated his Twitter profile. Were there additional economic interests involved? The HSG says that the professor's department has never received funds or other support from Chinese companies or other Chinese actors.
The afterplay
How does the HSG assess the case today? Vice President Ulrich Schmid says: "The HSG is unreservedly committed to freedom of teaching and research. However, freedom of research is in no way affected here, since these are private statements of the former doctoral student, which he has published via a social network." You can't comment on the tweets. But the fact that they obviously caused a lot of discussion and were perceived as racist justifies the professor's desire to distance herself clearly from it.
Schmid emphasizes that Gerber's care after exmatriculation was "purely voluntary" and had an "informal character". It is "good right" of the professor to terminate it at any time if the relationship of trust is disturbed. Furthermore, Gerber did not make a complete application for re-enrollment, but tried to force his rhyme enrollment.
In the early summer of 2020, Gerber decided to give up legal efforts. He says he did not complete the application for enrollment because he did not find a new supervisor: "There was no other professor in the same field where I could have finished writing my work. Changing the subject would have meant starting from scratch after three and a half years. That was out of the question for me."
Gerber has long considered whether he should make the case public. He hopes for a debate about how China influences Swiss universities.
Today Gerber says that having started tweeting was a mistake. The fact that he was able to lose three years of research as a result still leaves him stunned. Yes, he took a China-critical path and once shared a cartoon that he would no longer share today. But I didn't do anything wrong.
Gerber has given up his doctorate. He says: "I don't want to have to censor myself - certainly not in Switzerland". Meanwhile, he has found a job that has nothing to do with China.