Outspoken Chinese legal scholar Xu Zhangrun has received an invitation from Harvard University to be a researcher at the school's Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies (FCCS), weeks after being fired by his former employer, Tsinghua University, for articles critical of President Xi Jinping.

According to friends, Xu received an unofficial invitation from Harvard on August 7; on August 13 he received an official FCCS offer letter as an associate in research for the 2020-21 school year.

"We have much respect for Professor Xu's academic work," James Evans, the center's communications officer, told VOA's Mandarin service via email. "We thought it appropriate to make a gesture of support in light of recent developments, and therefore invited him to apply for an affiliation with us."

While the associate-in-research affiliation is ordinarily granted in response to a request by the scholar, Evans said FCCS found "it would be an effective way to express support for Prof. Xu in a timely fashion."

Xu wrote back to the center on Wednesday, thanking FCCS for the offer, saying it was "a substantive appointment that addresses the very core of my interests."

Just days ago, Xu received the Notice for Unemployed Individual from his former employer, the prestigious Tsinghua University, officially finalizing termination of his contract. In addition to writing critical articles, Xu was detained for a week in early July on charges of soliciting prostitutes in the southwestern city of Chengdu last year, which he denied.

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Xu, who was barred from leaving China, had taught at Tsinghua University's law school for over two decades. In a series of articles published over the past few years, Xu has harshly criticized Xi, accusing him of moving toward authoritarianism since coming to power in 2012 and blaming him for China's political, economic and cultural setbacks.

Observers cheer Harvard

Professor Jerome Cohen, founder of New York University's U.S.-Asia Law Institute, called Harvard's invitation to Xu "a brilliant move" that raises the question of whether other research organizations should also extend invitations to rights activists in China.

"I have long thought that I should limit my contacts with distinguished human rights people in China, because it might add to their problems," Cohen told VOA Mandarin.

"But I see now, perhaps we should take the opposite approach and we should be inviting many of the great people in China who are oppressed or restricted in their activities to be associated with our research institutes," he said. "I see what it has done for Professor Xu. He has put out a wonderful, extremely interesting essay in response to the honor Harvard extended to him. It is obviously a psychic income. It has given him greater resistance and greater strides in his struggle against oppression."

Boston University political scientist Joseph Fewsmith, also an FCCS researcher, told VOA the Harvard center has a history of providing shelter for oppressed scholars, and that he welcomes Xu's arrival.

Chinese legal scholar Yu Ping said the move shows that Harvard's relationship with Beijing is evolving.

"They stood up to the CCP at such a critical moment, I think it shows their dissatisfaction with CCP's punishment towards Xu," he told VOA. In the past, he said, FCCS was sometimes reluctant to engage in political debates that could disrupt its relationship with Beijing, and the public support for Xu shows "a change of attitude."

Yet Lu Nan, a U.S.-based political commentator who is friends with Xu, said the Beijing authorities will not allow Xu to leave the country.

"I am 100% sure Xu's freedom of movement will be controlled," Lu told VOA. "Xu knows this — he can't physically leave China."

Recently, many liberal scholars have been forbidden to leave China. In 2018, Hong Sheng, director of the liberal think tank Unirule Institute of Economics, was told at the airport that he was not allowed to leave China to attend a conference in the U.S. on China's economic reform. The reason given to him was that the trip "threatens China's national security."

Lu added that he expects Xu will not give in to the authorities and is prepared for further persecution.

This story originated in VOA's Mandarin service.

The Trump administration is opening new investigations into allegations of antisemitism at five U.S. universities including Columbia and the University of California, Berkeley, the Education Department announced Monday.

It's part of President Donald Trump's promise to take a tougher stance against campus antisemitism and deal out harsher penalties than the Biden administration, which settled a flurry of cases with universities in its final weeks. It comes the same day the Justice Department announced a new task force to root out antisemitism on college campuses.

In an order signed last week, Trump called for aggressive action to fight anti-Jewish bias on campuses, including the deportation of foreign students who have participated in pro-Palestinian protests.

Along with Columbia and Berkeley, the department is now investigating the University of Minnesota, Northwestern University and Portland State University. The cases were opened using the department's power to launch its own civil rights reviews, unlike the majority of investigations, which stem from complaints.

Messages seeking comment were left with all five universities.
A statement from the Education Department criticized colleges for tolerating antisemitism after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel and a wave of pro-Palestinian protests that followed. It also criticized the Biden administration for negotiating "toothless" resolutions that failed to hold schools accountable.

"Today, the Department is putting universities, colleges, and K-12 schools on notice: this administration will not tolerate continued institutional indifference to the wellbeing of Jewish students on American campuses," said Craig Trainor, the agency's acting assistant secretary for civil rights.

The department didn't provide details about the inquiries or how it decided which schools are being targeted. Presidents of Columbia and Northwestern were among those called to testify on Capitol Hill last year as Republicans sought accountability for allegations of antisemitism. The hearings contributed to the resignation of multiple university presidents, including Columbia's Minouche Shafik.

An October report from House Republicans accused Columbia of failing to punish pro-Palestinian students who took over a campus building, and it called Northwestern's negotiations with student protesters a "stunning capitulation."

House Republicans applauded the new investigations. Representative Tim Walberg, chair of the Education and Workforce Committee, said he was "glad that we finally have an administration who is taking action to protect Jewish students."

Trump's order also calls for a full review of antisemitism complaints filed with the Education Department since Oct. 7, 2023, including pending and resolved cases from the Biden administration. It encourages the Justice Department to take action to enforce civil rights laws.

Last week's order drew backlash from civil rights groups who said it violated First Amendment rights that protect political speech.

The new task force announced Monday includes the Justice and Education departments along with Health and Human Services.

"The Department takes seriously our responsibility to eradicate this hatred wherever it is found," said Leo Terrell, assistant attorney general for civil rights. "The Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism is the first step in giving life to President Trump's renewed commitment to ending anti-Semitism in our schools."

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