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April 13, 2007
Is What You Read About China Remotely Reliable?
In the 1980s, the Chinese government discredited Steven Mosher, a scholar of modern China and PhD candidate at Stanford University, and expelled him from the country. China's claims are immaterial -- it was clear that he was punished for documenting the horrors of the one-child policy.
China then threatened Stanford with excommunication: no funding, no exchanges. Stanford to its great and lasting shame did the unthinkable and expelled Mosher.
At the time, I hadn't yet decided whether to enter a PhD program in Chinese Studies. But I do remember some of my university instructors cautioning me to choose a topic wisely.
Mei Tzu-lin, whom I absolutely adored, was one of the few heroic figures I have ever met in academia. He asked me whether I intended to spend my scholarly life gallivanting through the Chinese countryside, adulterating my findings and conclusions out of fear of reprisal, or whether I was a scholar determined to search for the truth. I vaguely remember stuttering something, shocked by the profundity of his question.
In this essay, discovered on Howard French's fine blog, Carsten Holz provides an answer.
Comments
Foreigners might never really understand what a Chinese is having on his mind. We have absolutely different ways of thinking in many aspects. Some westerners sturbanly believe they are doing something right to change the bad situation in China, which may seem absurd in Chinese eyes. They don't actually know the situation and what is good for China at all.
Posted by: chinahelpline ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.asiabizblog.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at June 11, 2007 10:02 AM
Foreigners might never really understand what a Chinese is having on his mind. We have absolutely different ways of thinking in many aspects. Some westerners sturbanly believe they are doing something right to change the bad situation in China, which may seem absurd in Chinese eyes. They don't actually know the situation and what is good for China at all.
Posted by: chinahelpline at June 11, 2007 10:02 AM
Foreigners might never really understand what a Chinese is having on his mind. We have absolutely different ways of thinking in many aspects. Some westerners sturbanly believe they are doing something right to change the bad situation in China, which may seem absurd in Chinese eyes. They don't actually know the situation and what is good for China at all.
Posted by: chinahelpline at June 11, 2007 10:03 AM
[img]http://www.chinahelpline.com/pic/tel.gif[/img]
Posted by: chinahelpline at June 11, 2007 10:07 AM
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