This is classic western/European entitlement. How absolutely annoying.
Is it "entitlement" to say your opinion publicly?
Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
231–240 of 374 posts
Re: Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
#232Earlier quoted context omitted.
So you say only liars and cowards can get PhD today?
I say that jeopardizing the safety of your loved one and her family back in China after they specifically ask you not to take some action, and while you are safely abroad is not a good example of moral courage
So what are some good examples?
Re: Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
#233Yes, some shame on the advisor, department/program for folding under such threats, but let me ask this: What was the guy seeking in posting accusatory political opinions about the Chinese government on Twitter? Attention, that's what. The thing that everyone on Twitter wants. He got it, and now is unhappy with the result. He's not totally without some responsibility here.
"She was dressed provocatively"
Re: Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
#234Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is there is any evidence that any PhD student has ever found it hard to get a US visa because of criticizing the US or US policy?
Is this close enough: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=201908301... ?
Happy ending here: he was admitted to the country a week later, on his second attempt, in time to start classes.
(I'm not making excuses for the---dire---state of our immigration policy as a whole. But I was happy to see that this particular case worked out in the end.)
Re: Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
#235This is an article spun to make controversy out of nothing. The narrative is that a student tweeted something critical about China, and the CCP pressured his advisor into dropping him. The reality is that the student published a tweet that "depicted a comic character that had been altered and had stereotyped Chinese features, with yellow skin tone and slit eyes". This understandably was perceived as racist by a Chine…
Until I see it, I'm not going to believe that cartoon is racist. I mean seriously, Asian people have skin that is somewhat more yellow and somewhat narrower eyes. With the way the media manipulates anything, the lack of a photo is a pretty strong sign that the cartoon ISN'T significantly racist (just as the lack of race in the title in a act of police brutality is a strong sign that the victim is white).
Re: Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
#236Earlier quoted context omitted.
What are you even talking about? Posting racist cartoon depicting stereotypes about Chinese is exactly what the Chinese studies PhD student did, so this is an exact parallel.
Do you have a copy of the cartoon? The article intimated that it had possibly exaggerated Asiatic features. It did not indicate that the cartoon’s actual intent was to lampoon an entire race, which is what would traditionally qualify as racism (although I know the goalposts have been moved quite a bit).
I don’t have a copy of the cartoon, and I haven’t read anything about this story other than what’s in the article. But that the article is very vague about the cartoon is rather telling in itself: if it is innocuous enough why isn’t it included or at least described in more detail as ammunition? The author wasn’t shy about including the full tweet they’d like you to believe was the smoking gun. It’s also impossible to tell “actual intent” even if the image is provided; pushing a political message is not at all mutually exclusive with contempt against an entire people.
Anyway, this jollybean poster apparently also doesn’t have a copy and posted in bad faith just to mislead people who didn’t actually read the article, or only read what the author intended to highlight. Really tried of this bad faith engagement.
Re: Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
#237Earlier quoted context omitted.
I am quite aware of declaration of human rights. It is not a fundamental law in scientific sense, i.e. it is not a natural property of any kind. You want freedom of speech, fine, but you have to fight to get it and keep it alive. Otherwise it becomes just another unenforceable legalistic quirk like beheading for insulting the Queen is today.
> You want freedom of speech, fine, but you have to fight to get it and keep it alive. This needs to be said more often… rights cannot be reduced to a “declaration” or a “bill”. They are social constructs that wither away and die without constant social reinforcement, both formal and informal.
Rights aren't "social constructs" if they're natural rights, that is, those that follow from the nature of what it means to be a human being. Those are recognized, not "constructed". These must be distinguished from those things that are merely asserted as rights and that people like to make up to suit their agendas.
But, given that, natural rights can be violated and fail to be protected from those who would do so. So just because something is natural in nature does not mean it cannot be suppressed. It is natural and proper for human beings to speak, but speech can be suppressed. So yes, a society that stops protecting rights will see more violations of them. Declarations are magic incantations. You need power and authority to back them up.
(Also, w.r.t. freedom of speech, I am here not assuming unrestricted speech and "expression"; this has never existed and cannot exist and so on. Rights are not absolute: you can forfeit even your right to life by murdering another human being, for example. Thus rights must be understood in the context of justice.)
Re: Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
#238To be clear, what happened to this kid is horrible and just demonstrates that we have to get serious on this problem. However this comment annoyed me: "«I'm in Switzerland, not China,» Gerber replied. «I can say what I want here.»" You can tell this kid grew up in the la-la land that is the West, particularly Europe. I find this comment to be an infuriating mix anivete and patronizing. For the naïveté Switzerland is…
Another reading of this is: "freedom of speech is protected in this country". And that is true, not the fairytale you suggest it to be.
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Re: Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
#239To be clear, what happened to this kid is horrible and just demonstrates that we have to get serious on this problem. However this comment annoyed me: "«I'm in Switzerland, not China,» Gerber replied. «I can say what I want here.»" You can tell this kid grew up in the la-la land that is the West, particularly Europe. I find this comment to be an infuriating mix anivete and patronizing. For the naïveté Switzerland is…
Wow.
Patronizing: you know what's patronizing? The notion that this kid simply doesn't understand the realpolitik. Of course he does: it just punched him in the face. He's fighting it. I respect him for that.
Infuriating: you know what's infuriating? The person who claims to share the values this guy is standing up for but can't stop trash-talking him.
Naïveté: you know what's naive? Thinking that rolling over and accepting realpolitik bullying is going to make things better.
La-la land: you know where that is? It's right between cynicism and self-loathing. Of course things can get bad here! That's why we need to fight whenever they slide in that direction! Of course the West isn't a bastion of moral purity above all reproach! That doesn't excuse China's behavior, it doesn't make them the lesser evil, and it doesn't mean they aren't worth fighting!
Stop navel-gazing and stand up for what you believe in. At the very least, cheer on those who do.
Re: Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
#240To be clear, what happened to this kid is horrible and just demonstrates that we have to get serious on this problem. However this comment annoyed me: "«I'm in Switzerland, not China,» Gerber replied. «I can say what I want here.»" You can tell this kid grew up in the la-la land that is the West, particularly Europe. I find this comment to be an infuriating mix anivete and patronizing. For the naïveté Switzerland is…
I'm a bit conflicted on this story for the same reason. One the one hand I agree what happened to him was horrible, but on the other hand it's almost to be expected. The kid was enrolled in a Chinese university and decided to criticize the CCP on the internet under his own name. So yeah what happened to him was horrible, but not unexpected.