PhD student in Switzerland expelled after criticizing the CCP in Twitter

I can't read Swiss... but the comments on Reddit seem to show that this isn't as cut and dry as the title makes it sound. Quoting /u/hamsterman20:

> "First of all, he was going to a chinese university with a chinese scholarship.

> He left the swiss university because of some weird technicalities while attending the Chinese university.

> He posted political messages against china and 1 picture depicting a chinese with yellow skin and slit eyes.

> Im not surprised he was kicked out of the chinese university and that the supervisor wanted to distance themselves. Though I wish they would stand up against China, its hard when your career depends on it.

> His swiss university refused to take them back. Don't know why. Technicalities I guess."

I'm sure there's still more to the story, and that it obviously isn't entirely the student's fault, but it isn't like a Swiss Student randomly tweeted about the CCP and got kicked out.

Translation:

When his girlfriend saw some of his tweets she's aghast. She's asking him on the phone to stop. Not because she disagrees. But because she is afraid of repercussions by the Chinese government. "I'm in Switzerland, not China", he replies, "here I can say whatever I want".

Of course he should be able to speak his mind.

But when your girlfriend (who is Chinese and living in China) pleads for you to stop, maybe you should just take the hint. Not even for your sake ("I'm in Switzerland"), but for hers?

It is also mentioned in the report: https://www.nzz.ch/english/swiss-phd-students-dismissal-spot...

> The writer accuses Gerber of a «racist attack on the Chinese people.» He was referring to a specific tweet: a cartoon that Gerber had posted in response to another user's tweet. It depicted a comic character that had been altered and had stereotyped Chinese features, with yellow skin tone and slit eyes. This drawing circulated on social media in the spring of 2020, and was deemed racist by some users. Gerber said he only shared the cartoon because of its political message. The underlying topic had been China's stance toward Taiwan and Hong Kong. «In retrospect, I realize I didn't question the rendering of the Chinese person enough,» he said.

So it is about "yellow skin tone and slit eyes".

This is crazy. I don't understand how is this OK. One Twitter of cartoon , you are expelled? No chance of explanation or apologize?

Even the CCP wouldn't do this. I am pretty sure a Chinese student wouldn't be expelled from the university from one single anti-CCP social media post.

This is a really good overview of one of the Financial Times' top rated business school programs in the world, where this PhD student was expelled from, in Switzerland, with an extremely damning report of the program and how they cook the books to make it look like you would have a chance of making it in a place like Switzerland post-graduation.

What is really damning about it: You have zero chance of integrating unless you have an EU passport from about 8 or so countries, unless you are Swiss. It is very insightful, actually.

> The writer [of the email] accuses Gerber of a «racist attack on the Chinese people.» He was referring to a specific tweet: a cartoon that Gerber had posted in response to another user's tweet. It depicted a comic character that had been altered and had stereotyped Chinese features, with yellow skin tone and slit eyes.

> The professor's first email clearly shows that she feared she would no longer be able to obtain a Chinese visa because of Gerber's tweets.

> In the early summer of 2020, Gerber decided to abandon the legal effort. He said he didn't complete the enrollment application because he couldn't find a new adviser: «There was no other professor in the same department with whom I could have finished my work. Changing topics would have meant starting from scratch again after three and a half years. That was out of the question for me.»

The article clearly sides with Gerber on the issue, but I don't think an adviser can be forced to work with a specific PhD candidate. On the other hand, I think this is an important debate:

> [...] Gerber's case demonstrates that China's aggressive foreign policy can in fact influence how academics in Switzerland publicly express themselves, and how they deal with critical comments from their students. It shows that some researchers are willing to restrict their own and others’ activities in order to avoid upsetting China.

[0] https://www.nzz.ch/english/swiss-phd-students-dismissal-spot...

There were less than 10 people following or presumably reading Gerber's tweets.

Now 10 million+ people will read them.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

1. He used to be a student at the swiss university (call it SGU) 2. His research is about climate change, he goes to china to do his PhD and further his knowledge and study of it, falls in love with a Chinese girlfriend (he's anonymous in the article because of, according to him, repercussions by the Chinese government on the family of his girlfriend, which makes sense because when he tweeted critically about china she told him she was scared) 3. having started his PhD at SGU, he still had a "supervisory relationship" with someone there (she used this wording when she took distance from him) 4. He went to Switzerland to visit family, and was stuck there for Covid reasons. He thought of creating a twitter account to talk about china and asked his swiss supervisor whether it would be a bad idea, and whether she self-censors herself. She did not reply. He then started tweeting against China, thinking he'd be fine because he's in Switzerland. 5. Now, he receives an email from his supervisor, saying she received "angry e-mails from china" and that she might not be able to get a visa for entering china (which her research benefits from). He then deactivates his Twitter account and asks her who sent the e-mails, which gets him no replies. Two days later, another e-mail from her says she is "terminating" her supervisory relationship with him. Some short time later his account is deleted from SGU's online system, and he does not appear on the SGU website as a PhD student. 6. His dad contacts lawyers, the journal writing the article contacts the university, and their official stand is that his relationship with the supervisor was informal, and that his account was deleted simply because he unenrolled from the university a while ago so that he could spend more time in China to finish his PhD (otherwise, the max number of years allowed by SGU to do a PhD might be exceeded). He was unable to re-enrol to SGU because he did not have a suitable supervisor anymore. 7. The supervisor, when contacted by the journal, said that the "angry e-mails from China" were one student from Canada saying one of the guy's tweets was racist (it depicted a yellow-skin, exaggerated slanted-eyed caricature and was a retweet). She said that tweet was the only reason for her actions. To that, the student said he should not have retweeted that cartoon, but that he did it only for the political message it was trying to say, which was apparently concerning the oppression of Taiwan and other countries by China. She also said he had "lost his temper" in a conversation a year earlier, which eroded her trust for him. The article says there is no hint of tension in their e-mails.

So, I understand all the comments pointing out that it's fair that he's treated that way, given the tweets he made and the fact that he was technically only a student at the Chinese university. However there's a few points in this story that stand out to me. - Firstly, the university called the relationship between the student and the supervisor "informal". There's something strange about that, because if she was an informal supervisor acting only from her personal accord, then how would his personal tweets affect her ability to get a visa? There should in fact not be much of a link between them if he's not a student of the university. - Secondly, if it really was one student from Canada complaining about his one tweet, how could it affect her visa? Especially if he takes them down, as he did right when she reported it to him. - Thirdly, if it was only that one racist tweet that motivated her actions, it would surprise me that she would not ask him to take it down.

In conclusion, I see a few possibilities. It could be that the supervisor didn't like him anymore after the tweets, and decided she didn't want to work with him anymore, and then he was trapped by the decision to unenroll to go beyond the PhD year limit. Or it could be that the supervisor was under pressure by other people's e-mails (Chinese university officials) that warned her of consequences. Given that this university has the most agreements with Chinese universities of all Switzerland, my view on this would depend on how trustable the journalist is. The article sounds a lot like he's being clear and making sense, and the supervisor and university are using technicalities and lack of clarity to make obscure (to us) decisions.

2. He was no longer a student at the University of St Gallen, "because he had deregistered the previous year".

3. Since there is no longer a formal supervised relationship, what's wrong with distancing yourself from the doctor because you don't agree with his actions and opinions? Doesn't the professor have that right and freedom?

4. Shouldn't any racial discrimination be condemned? Or should it be forgiven because it was directed at China? Isn't it ingratitude and biting the hand that feeds you that you are racially discriminating against Chinese people and stigmatizing them as the source of COVID-19 while having lived in China and studied for a PhD in China and on a Chinese scholarship?

5. The professor according to their own views and quoted the reaction of friends decided to terminate the guidance of residual this informal relationship, it is a personal affairs, but to drag China into the picture and make it out that China is putting pressure on the world and undermining the independence and freedom of Swiss education, and to make China a terrible threat. This is not a slur on China, but more an insult to Switzerland.

When will the news media truly treat its readers as independent, thinking individuals rather than objects of brainwashing and propaganda?

To the topic, CCP influence in Western academia is a huge and growing problem the West is sleeping on to its own peril. It is probably too late now for any meaninugful fix and anyway how would that fix look like? So prepare for more self-censorship and censorship and bullying of researchers critical of CCP.

Here in Denmark the authorities confiscated Tibetan flags among peaceful protesters because someone in the Chinese embassy was offended.

The Danish police has had a few problematic incidents in the past but confiscating flags from peaceful protestors is unheard of.

Not OP, but here's a deepl translation:

No doctorate because of a tweet: This is how far China's influence on Swiss universities extends A Swiss doctoral student tweets critically about China. Afterwards, his professor at the University of St. Gallen wants nothing more to do with him - she fears she will no longer get a visa.

When Oliver Gerber* first hears that his tweets could cost him his future doctorate, he is sitting in his old childhood bedroom. It's March 28, 2020, 9:50 p.m. Gerber's mailbox receives an e-mail from his supervisor at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). Subject: "Very urgent: complaint from China about your Twitter."

Gerber clicks on the e-mail on his smartphone. The professor writes that she has received "excited mails from China." Gerber is spreading "neo-Nazi-like content" on Twitter. This is dangerous, even for her: "In the end, even I may not be able to get a visa for China because of you. That is decidedly going too far and I would have to end our mentoring relationship." She said he should immediately moderate his political language in public. She has "no desire to receive such mails because of one of my doctoral students."

Oliver Gerber has to read the message twice. He has been tweeting for ten days, with less than ten people following him. Sure, he has sharply criticized the Chinese government. For example, on March 21, he posted in English, "The Chinese Communist Party made the fight against Covid-19 Plan B. This would only come to fruition if Plan A - cover-up - failed. This is how paranoid cowards act. They have earned neither my respect nor my gratitude. #ChinaLiedPeopleDied".

That's supposed to be "neo-Nazi-like" content? Gerber believes it's a misunderstanding. He answers at 11 p.m., wants to know from whom the "excited mails from China" originate. He asks if his professor even read the tweets. And he accuses her of having "fallen for the increasingly aggressive Chinese censorship." Nevertheless, he deactivates his Twitter account.

Oliver Gerber hears nothing more for almost 48 hours. Then the professor gets in touch again. Her tone is distant, she does not respond to Gerber's questions. She puts the second supervisor of the thesis in copy and writes that she wishes him good luck with his "Chinese studies". And further: there "is no supervisory relationship between you and us."

It is the last e-mail Gerber will receive on his HSG account. The next day, he no longer has access to the messages. An IT technician tells him on the phone that his account doesn't even exist. Gerber says, "It felt like I was eliminated overnight."

Education is central to China's global power strategy. The Chinese government wants to control the image the world has of the country. To do so, it exerts influence abroad - and does not shy away from repression. At the beginning of the year, the Chinese Foreign Ministry banned all researchers from the largest research institute in Europe specializing in China from entering the country. Such demonstrations of power intimidate researchers around the world - especially if they rely on traveling to China for work. This can lead them to preemptively avoid critical topics.

Cooperation between Swiss and Chinese universities is close, with over fifty cooperation agreements now in place. Swiss scientists 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 of Chinese influence on universities. Oliver Gerber's case, however, shows that China's aggressive foreign policy can influence how scientists in Switzerland express themselves publicly and how they deal with critical votes from their students. It shows that some scientists are willing to restrict themselves and others in order not to anger China.

Oliver Gerber's name is actually different. Because his partner's family lives in China and expects repression if his name appears in the newspaper, he wants to remain anonymous. For this reason, the professor is also not mentioned by name. The NZZ has spoken to both sides.

Gerber accuses the HSG of kicking 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 former doctoral student's position. However, the University of St. Gallen insists on a different version: Gerber had decided himself not to study at the HSG anymore.

How does the HSG justify this? From whom did the professor receive the "excited emails from China"? And what does this mean for freedom of opinion and research in Switzerland?

The background Oliver Gerber has a background in science, and you can tell by the way he tells his story: structured, meticulously documented, and with distance. As if it had all happened to someone else.

The fact that the events nonetheless preoccupy him greatly is evident from how often he repeats, "I can't believe that something like this happened in Switzerland." His three-year research effort: destroyed because of a tweet.

In spring 2017, Gerber will begin his doctoral studies at the HSG. He is researching environmental pollution. His topic is sensitive for China, yet it is clear to Gerber early on: he wants to understand the country, wants to do research on the ground and not from his desk in St. Gallen. He applies for scholarships and is supported by his supervisor. In the letter of recommendation, she writes: "He is capable of pursuing a high-profile research career."

Gerber is awarded a Chinese government fellowship at a university in Wuhan - for three years, instead of just one as originally planned. He flies to Wuhan in September 2018, quickly making friends and falling in love.

A Chinese professor finds his doctoral topic "boring" - a euphemism for too critical of the government. He also has to attend classes for his scholarship and can't believe how much censorship shapes everyday university life. When he submits an essay on re-education camps, he receives the lowest grade. In an e-mail to his professor in St. Gallen, he writes: "Maybe I just had bad luck."

How China is making an impact through education China has become a popular destination for students from around the world before the pandemic. In 2018, their number was nearly half a million. Just under 13 percent received scholarships from the Chinese government. To do so, China specifically selects students from countries where it has political interests.

China's economy is growing rapidly. In terms of foreign policy, the country is becoming increasingly aggressive. Western media constantly report on human rights violations such as the prison camps in Xinjiang. All of this raises fears about China. The government is aware of this.

But it also knows that China's history fascinates many. That's why China created the Confucius Institutes. There are more than 500 of them worldwide, in over 150 countries. Located on the campuses of foreign universities, the institutes are designed to teach Chinese language and culture. They are under the control of the Chinese Ministry of Education, which provides staff and funds. In Switzerland, there is only one such institute, at the University of Geneva. The second was located at the University of Basel and closed last fall.

In the United States, too, one in four Confucius Institutes has been shut down in recent years. Universities no longer wanted to lend legitimacy to an institution that defended fundamentally different values. Whereas in the West freedom of research and freedom of expression are important basic principles, education in China has become highly politicized under the rule of state and party leader 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 planning only a short family visit. But then the coronavirus pandemic breaks out. On January 23, a strict lockdown is imposed on Wuhan. Gerber stays in Switzerland. He begins to think about what to do 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 she is active on the social network. He asks via email: "Are you engaging in some degree of self-censorship? Do you think it would be too dangerous for me to open a Twitter account?"

Although he receives no reply, he begins tweeting in mid-March. At that time, China is in focus as the site of the Corona pandemic outbreak. Gerber sees his opportunity to position himself as a China expert. At the same time, he is also emotionally taken by what is happening in Wuhan - the city he wants to return to, where he has friends and a partner. His Twitter channel becomes an outlet: he criticizes the Chinese government's initial cover-up of the Corona epidemic, 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 with everything. But because she is afraid of repression from the Chinese government. "I'm in Switzerland, not China," he replies. "Here I can say what I want."