Harvard, Princeton Give Chinese Students ‘Code Names’ to Avoid Communist Government

Chinese students at Harvard and Princeton will use code names this semester as a protection measure against censorship by China’s Communist government. Other university classes will carry warning labels such as “This course may cover material considered politically sensitive by China.” As pointed out by Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR), the same institutions working feverishly to protect students from the Chinese Communists are happy to take millions of dollars from the same government.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Chinese students at Harvard and Princeton will hide their identities this fall to shield them from prosecution by the Chinese government.
Rory Truex, an assistant professor who teaches Chinese politics at Princeton, suggested that using code names is better than choosing not to discuss controversial topics. “We cannot self-censor,” Truex. “If we, as a Chinese teaching community, out of fear stop teaching things like Tiananmen or Xinjiang or whatever sensitive topic the Chinese government doesn’t want us talking about, if we cave, then we’ve lost.”

Professor Meg Rithmire of Harvard Business School claims that she will have her students use code names to prevent persecution. “There is no way that I can say to my students, ‘You can say whatever you want on the phone call and you are totally free and safe here,’” Rithmire said. “It’s more about harm mitigation.”

Avery Goldstein of the University of Pennsylvania said that he will encourage international students to make their own decision before enrolling in his political science courses. As a result of teaching a course that will cover Chinese politics, Goldstein claims that he will restrict his own travel to China due to concerns for his safety.
“We have to leave it up to the students whether they enroll, because it is ultimately their lives that are going to be affected,” Goldstein said. “I will make it clear that there is nothing I can do to protect them.” Some universities will adopt warning labels on classes, such as: “This course may cover material considered politically sensitive by China.”

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) commented on the drastic measures needed to avoid Chinese censorship, ironically taken by institutions that accept millions of dollars from the very same Chinese communists.

Breitbart News reported in January that a Chinese citizen was sentenced to six months in prison for tweets he published while studying at the University of Minnesota. The student was reportedly sentenced to prison for a several tweet, one of which compared China’s dictator Xi Jinping to Winnie the Pooh.
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