No doctorate because of a tweet: China's influence on Swiss universities reaches that far
A Swiss doctoral student tweets critically about China. After that, his professor at the University of St. Gallen no longer have anything to do with him - she fears that she will no longer get a visa.
An HSG doctoral student tweets about China for ten days. This costs him three years of research. An HSG doctoral student tweets about China for ten days. This costs him three years of research. When Oliver Gerber* hears for the first time that his tweets could cost him his future doctorate, he sits in his old children's room. It is the 28. March 2020, 9 p.m. 50. In Gerber's mailbox, an e-mail from his supervisor from the University of St. Gallen (HSG). Subject: "Very urgent: Complaint from China about your Twitter".
Gerber clicks on the email on his smartphone. The professor writes that she has received "excited mails from China": Gerber distributes "Neonazi-like content" on Twitter. This is dangerous, also for them: "In the end, even I may not be able to get a visa for China because of you. This goes decisively too far and I would have to end our care relationship." He should immediately moderate his political expression in public. She doesn't feel like receiving such emails because of one of my doctoral students.
Oliver Gerber has to read the message twice. He has been tweeting for ten days, fewer than ten people follow him. Sure, he has sharply criticized the Chinese government. For example, he posted on the 21. March in English: "The Chinese Communist Party made the fight against Covid-19 Plan B. This would only come into effect if Plan A - cover-up - failed. This is how paranoid cowards act. You deserve neither my respect nor my gratitude. #ChinaLiedPeopleDied».
This is supposed to be "Neonazi-like" content? Gerber believes in a misunderstanding. He answers at 11 p.m. 11, wants to know from whom the "excited mails from China" come. He asks if his professor has read the tweets at all. And he accuses her of having gone on the hook of increasingly aggressive Chinese censorship. Nevertheless, he deactivates his Twitter account.
Oliver Gerber hears nothing more for almost 48 hours. Then the professor will get back to you. Her tone is distant, she does not respond to Gerber's questions. She copies the second supervisor of the work and writes that she wishes him good luck with his "Chinese studies". And further: There is "no care relationship between you and us."
It is the last email Gerber will receive on his HSG account. The next day he will no longer have access to the messages. An IT technician tells him on the phone that his account does not exist at all. Gerber says: "It felt like I had been eliminated overnight."
Education is central to China's global power strategy. The Chinese government wants to control the image that the world has of the country. To this end, it exerts influence abroad - and does not shy away from repression. At the beginning of the year, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs banned all researchers from the largest research institute specializing in China in Europe from entering the country. Such power demonstrations intimidate researchers worldwide - especially if they need to travel to China professionally. This can lead to them avoiding preventive critical topics.
Cooperation between Swiss and Chinese universities is close, there are now more than fifty cooperation agreements. Swiss people benefit from stays abroad and can access large amounts of data in research, for example to develop cancer therapies. But what is the price of this cooperation?
There are only a few people in Switzerland who disclose and criticize attempts at Chinese influence at universities. Oliver Gerber's case shows, however, that China's aggressive foreign policy can influence how scientists in Switzerland express themselves publicly and how they deal with critical votes of their students. It shows that some scientists are willing to restrict themselves and others so as not to annoy China.
Oliver Gerber is actually called different. Because his partner's family lives in China and expects repression if his name is in the newspaper, he wants to remain anonymous. For this reason, the professor is not named either. The NZZ has spoken to both sides.
Gerber accuses the HSG of throwing him out because of his critical tweets. The NZZ has copies of these tweets as well as Gerber's correspondence with the professor and other HSG representatives. They largely support the position of the former doctoral student. The University of St. Gallen, however, insists on a different version: Gerber himself decided not to study at the HSG anymore.
How does the HSG justify this? From whom did the professor receive the "excited mails from China"? And what does this mean for freedom of expression and research in Switzerland?
Translation:
No doctorate because of a tweet: China's influence on Swiss universities reaches that far
A Swiss doctoral student tweets critically about China. After that, his professor at the University of St. Gallen no longer have anything to do with him - she fears that she will no longer get a visa.
An HSG doctoral student tweets about China for ten days. This costs him three years of research. An HSG doctoral student tweets about China for ten days. This costs him three years of research. When Oliver Gerber* hears for the first time that his tweets could cost him his future doctorate, he sits in his old children's room. It is the 28. March 2020, 9 p.m. 50. In Gerber's mailbox, an e-mail from his supervisor from the University of St. Gallen (HSG). Subject: "Very urgent: Complaint from China about your Twitter".
Gerber clicks on the email on his smartphone. The professor writes that she has received "excited mails from China": Gerber distributes "Neonazi-like content" on Twitter. This is dangerous, also for them: "In the end, even I may not be able to get a visa for China because of you. This goes decisively too far and I would have to end our care relationship." He should immediately moderate his political expression in public. She doesn't feel like receiving such emails because of one of my doctoral students.
Oliver Gerber has to read the message twice. He has been tweeting for ten days, fewer than ten people follow him. Sure, he has sharply criticized the Chinese government. For example, he posted on the 21. March in English: "The Chinese Communist Party made the fight against Covid-19 Plan B. This would only come into effect if Plan A - cover-up - failed. This is how paranoid cowards act. You deserve neither my respect nor my gratitude. #ChinaLiedPeopleDied».
This is supposed to be "Neonazi-like" content? Gerber believes in a misunderstanding. He answers at 11 p.m. 11, wants to know from whom the "excited mails from China" come. He asks if his professor has read the tweets at all. And he accuses her of having gone on the hook of increasingly aggressive Chinese censorship. Nevertheless, he deactivates his Twitter account.
Oliver Gerber hears nothing more for almost 48 hours. Then the professor will get back to you. Her tone is distant, she does not respond to Gerber's questions. She copies the second supervisor of the work and writes that she wishes him good luck with his "Chinese studies". And further: There is "no care relationship between you and us."
It is the last email Gerber will receive on his HSG account. The next day he will no longer have access to the messages. An IT technician tells him on the phone that his account does not exist at all. Gerber says: "It felt like I had been eliminated overnight."
Education is central to China's global power strategy. The Chinese government wants to control the image that the world has of the country. To this end, it exerts influence abroad - and does not shy away from repression. At the beginning of the year, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs banned all researchers from the largest research institute specializing in China in Europe from entering the country. Such power demonstrations intimidate researchers worldwide - especially if they need to travel to China professionally. This can lead to them avoiding preventive critical topics.
Cooperation between Swiss and Chinese universities is close, there are now more than fifty cooperation agreements. Swiss people benefit from stays abroad and can access large amounts of data in research, for example to develop cancer therapies. But what is the price of this cooperation?
There are only a few people in Switzerland who disclose and criticize attempts at Chinese influence at universities. Oliver Gerber's case shows, however, that China's aggressive foreign policy can influence how scientists in Switzerland express themselves publicly and how they deal with critical votes of their students. It shows that some scientists are willing to restrict themselves and others so as not to annoy China.
Oliver Gerber is actually called different. Because his partner's family lives in China and expects repression if his name is in the newspaper, he wants to remain anonymous. For this reason, the professor is not named either. The NZZ has spoken to both sides.
Gerber accuses the HSG of throwing him out because of his critical tweets. The NZZ has copies of these tweets as well as Gerber's correspondence with the professor and other HSG representatives. They largely support the position of the former doctoral student. The University of St. Gallen, however, insists on a different version: Gerber himself decided not to study at the HSG anymore.
How does the HSG justify this? From whom did the professor receive the "excited mails from China"? And what does this mean for freedom of expression and research in Switzerland?
After that, his professor at the University of St. Gallen no longer have anything to do with him - she fears that she will no longer get a visa.
so the teacher is worried that she will no longer be able to get a visa to go to china because of this?