China's Tsinghua University fires law professor who criticised President Xi Jinping

A law professor in Beijing, who had been publicly criticising Chinese President Xi Jinping, was reportedly fired by his university days after being released from week-long detention. According to an international media outlet, friends of Xu Zhangrun, the constitutional law professor at the Tsinghua University, informed that he had been ‘relieved of teaching and public positions’ by the university. The friends reportedly said that the university officials had suspended Xu from teaching duties since 2019 after he denounced the removal of the two-term limit for China’s leader. 

Earlier this month, as per the text message that was circulated among Xu’s friends and is even seen by an international media agency, the law professor was detained from his house in the city on July 6 by a police force of more than 20 law enforcement officers. His house was reportedly searched and his computer was also taken into custody. The 57-year-old legal scholar came under the spotlight back in July 2018 for condemning the removal of the two-term limit for the country’s leader that allowed Xi to acquire the office beyond his second term. 

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Xu was released on July 12 after being detained for at least six days. While he still remains under surveillance and has not been permitted to speak publicly about the events that took place in recent days, the Beijing police had reportedly told Xu’s wife that the reason for her husband’s detention was allegedly soliciting prostitution during a trip to Chengdu. However, two of the professor’s friends had rejected the accusations by the police as character assassination.

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China ‘fears its own people’s free-thinking’ 

Since 2018, Xu has been reportedly writing articles criticising other members of the ruling Chinese Communist Party. While the Asian superpower was being heavily scrutinised at the peak of the coronavirus outbreak, Xu had even written an article that called for freedom of speech. The United States also took the instance of Xu’s detention to lash out on China. 

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo attacked the CCP and said on July 8 that the country “fears its own people’s free-thinking more than any foreign foe”. The two countries have been at odds over a range of issues and freedom of speech has topped the disagreement since China proceeded with the controversial national security law on Hong Kong. US Secretary of State had said that the US is “deeply troubled” to know about Xu’s detention and had called for his release. 

(Image: @BeckyGuan/Twitter) 

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