A tweet cost him his doctorate: the extent of China’s influence on Swiss Unis

@dang

Thoughts are free, who can guess them? They fly by like nocturnal shadows. No person can know them, no hunter can shoot them with powder and lead: Thoughts are free!

With other words: think what you want (but be careful to speak it out).

> Education is a key aspect of China's global power strategy.

Is it not a key aspect of every major nation? But when we do it, it's called "soft power".

> This was supposed to be «neo-Nazi-like» content?

That's funny, if it was "neo-nazi" content, then it's okay to be censored?

> In offering such assistance, China specifically selects students from countries in which it has political interests.

As opposed to switzerland or anyone else who does the same thing?

> The country is becoming increasingly aggressive in its foreign policy.

Are they? Seems like we are the ones getting aggressive. Is china sending warships all over european shores?

> He ultimately received a fellowship from the Chinese government to a university in Wuhan, for three years instead of just one, as originally planned. In September 2018, he flew to Wuhan, quickly made friends and fell in love.

So he got a fellowship from the chinese government and then criticized the government? What does he expect?

> According to this telling, Gerber himself decided to terminate his studies at the university.

So he decided to quit?

> While research freedom and the freedom of expression are important fundamental principles in the West

Is it? Because censorship seems to be rampant in the US but especially in europe. Give me a break, there are certain topics that are researchers simply won't touch.

> Gerber saw an opportunity to position himself as a China expert.

Good one.

> «I can say what I want here.»

But not "neo-nazi" stuff right?

> In a report issued last year, the Swiss intelligence service warned that Chinese spies might be masquerading as students or researchers.

That's a certainty, but swiss spies and intelligence agents are masquerading as students and researchers too.

Everyday it's the same old propaganda.

> 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.

So he did post racist material on twitter after all.

> «In retrospect, I realize I didn't question the rendering of the Chinese person enough,» he said.

Says the self-proclaimed china expert. It's always a certain type of guy. Always. And by the looks of it, it wasn't the chinese government censoring a nobody, but a student from canada who was upset about his racist bullshit.

I'm pro-free speech ( an absolutist ) but just can't stand the hypocrisy. This hypocrite supports censorhip and more importantly, this news company peddling this propaganda supports censorship.

"Ralph Weber, a China expert and professor at the University of Basel, is critical of Swiss universities for often failing to perform sufficient due diligence on their foreign partners – especially those from China."

This article and this "china researcher" are advocating for the exact same thing that they are attacking china for.

That is QAnon-class.