Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by anfelor on Saturday August 07, 2021 @03:54AM
(#28096717)
Yes, there is no concrete intervention that the CCP did. Still, a supervisor broke off their contact with a promising student based on either the fear of retribution or personal feelings of nationalism. That culture is the product of CCP censorship and many people don't want it in the western world.
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by curiousgal on Saturday August 07, 2021 @05:02AM
(#28097074)
Honestly, if I were a professor and my PhD student was overly critical of the US online, I too would distance myself. Visa applications are hard enough as they are.
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by dash2 on Saturday August 07, 2021 @06:05AM
(#28097357)
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?
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by s1artibartfast on Saturday August 07, 2021 @11:06AM
(#28099090)
There have been cases of US deportations for even having US critical posts in your feed without making them.
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2019/8/27/incoming-freshm...
https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/02/denied-entry-united-states...
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by BeetleB on Saturday August 07, 2021 @01:11PM
(#28100150)
Eh - I knew Arab students who couldn't get their visa renewed for some years after Sep 11. They were involved in antiwar protests, etc. The fact that the US put many of its own anti-war activists on no-fly lists despite not having any evidence they were threats makes this pretty easy to believe.
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by beaunative on Saturday August 07, 2021 @07:43AM
(#28097818)
There are plenty Chinese students unable to renew their visa to the US for 'national security' reasons.
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by dash2 on Saturday August 07, 2021 @09:23AM
(#28098407)
Right, but 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?
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by beaunative on Saturday August 07, 2021 @09:55AM
(#28098604)
Border control / consulates check social media profiles, a policy implemented by Trump, I wonder why.
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by nix23 on Saturday August 07, 2021 @08:53AM
(#28098235)
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by bigbillheck on Saturday August 07, 2021 @09:41AM
(#28098515)
Is this close enough: https://www.universityworldnews.com/post.php?story=201908301... ?
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by imajoredinecon on Saturday August 07, 2021 @10:23AM
(#28098787)
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
by lmz on Saturday August 07, 2021 @09:23AM
(#28098408)
Wouldn't asking for all your social media identities as part of the visa application create somewhat of a chilling effect?
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by wolverine876 on Saturday August 07, 2021 @11:58AM
(#28099578)
That's the idea, I would guess.
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by samvega_ on Saturday August 07, 2021 @05:09AM
(#28097098)
Not only overly critical, the tweets had racist content and memes as well.
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by jkhdigital on Saturday August 07, 2021 @09:56AM
(#28098612)
The article mentions a single tweet with a comic depiction that includes possibly exaggerated Asiatic features. Whether this kind of thing qualifies as “racist”… opinions may differ, especially since the article does not provide the original image.
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by Marvin_Martian on Saturday August 07, 2021 @10:13AM
(#28098731)
Some comments might be off the mark, but the article itself is completly honest about the fact that they cannot prove that any chinese officials were even involved in this mess.
The underlying criticism is more that the professor (and if you want to extrapolate swiss institutions as a whole) engaged in some "working towards the fuhrer" behaviour. She took very drastic steps (ruining this students career) on the basis of what would be in the interest of the CCP.
And I would argue that this behaviour is very much incentivized by the CCP. Take a look at how censorhip within the country works: The laws are often quite vague, but enforcement is draconian. This leads people and institutions to guess what the government would want and act (self-censor) accordingly.
One of the original journalists published another article two days later that voices this criticism more clearly: https://www.nzz.ch/meinung/china-und-die-hsg-wo-die-angst-re...
Re:Swiss Ph.D student’s dismissal spotlights China’s influence
by hindsightbias on Saturday August 07, 2021 @12:51PM
(#28099982)
Anecdotes are front page news at HN
The comments critical of the CCP in this thread prove that confirmation bias is alive and well. There are many things to critique about China obviously but this particular instance is not one of them.