CHINA: LEADING ACADEMICS PROTEST DETENTIONS
Unprecedented Solidarity from the International China Studies Community

(New York – April 17, 2001) – Nearly 400 leading scholars from 14 countries as well as Taiwan and Hong Kong have signed a petition letter protesting China's ongoing detention of three of their fellow academics. “The petition appealing the arrest of three scholars of Chinese ancestry marks a major initiative by the international China studies community -- one without recent precedent in the scale of the international response and outpouring of concern for the fate of our colleagues,” said Mark Selden, Professor of Sociology and History, Binghamton University.

The open letter to Chinese President Jiang Zemin was released at a press conference in New York co-sponsored by the New York Academy of Sciences Committee for Human Rights, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Sociological Association, and the Academic Freedom Committee of Human Rights Watch.

The letter's signatories, all members of the international academic community working in the field of China studies, called the detentions “a gross violation of China's Criminal Procedure Law,” as well as international human rights law.

“What unites all of the signatories is a common hope our detained colleagues will be allowed home to the safety of their families and back to their offices to pursue their legitimate scholarly work – as we ourselves are free to do,” said Robin Munro, research fellow at London University and one of the signatories.

The three detained scholars are:

• Prof. Li Shaomin, a U.S. citizen teaching business at the City University of Hong Kong,
• Dr. Gao Zhan, a permanent resident of the U.S. and a research scholar based at American University in Washington, D.C., and
• Dr. Xu Zerong, who holds a Ph.D. from Oxford University and is an associate research professor at the Guangdong Provincial Academy of Social Sciences.

In the letter, the scholars expressed their concern about the vague reasons for the detention of their colleagues, and called on President Jiang to demonstrate China's commitment to human rights and academic freedom by either immediately releasing the scholars or by promptly affording them the opportunity to defend themselves in a court of law with international standards of due process.

For more information, please contact:

Prof. Merle Goldman, Professor of Chinese History, Boston University, USA: +1 617 495-4570, and 781 237-1964;

Prof. Roderick MarFarquhar, Leroy B. Williams Professor of History & Political Science; Chair, Government Department, Harvard University, USA: +1 617 495 2810

Robin Munro, Senior Research Fellow, SOAS, London University: +44 20 7281 1092, +44 7939 253132 (mobile); (office) +44 20 7898 4262

Dr. Gilbert Rozman, Musgrave Professor of Sociology, Princeton University: +1 609 258 5094 (w), +1 609 896 1975 (h);

Prof. Mark Selden, Professor of Sociology and History, Binghamton University: +1 607 257 5185