USA: Chinese dissident claims Chinese conquest of U.S. academia

Blind Chinese dissident Chen Guangcheng has now released a statement concerning his allegations that New York University is severing relations with him to curry favor with China’s oppressive Communist government and assure completion of a gleaming portal campus in Shanghai.

The statement, obtained Sunday night by The Daily Caller, is a humdinger. In addition to squarely accusing NYU of caving to Chinese pressure, the self-taught lawyer and famed human rights activist charges that a large number of American academics and academic institutions have become wrapped in the tentacles of China’s communist government.

“The work of the Chinese Communists within academic circles in the United States is far greater than what people imagine, and some scholars have no option but to hold themselves back,” Chen said. “Academic independence and academic freedom in the United States are being greatly threatened by a totalitarian regime.”

According to Chen, “as early as last August and September, the Chinese Communists had already begun to apply great, unrelenting pressure on New York University, so much so that after we had been in the United States just three to four months, NYU was already starting to discuss our departure with us.”

Chen, his wife and two children have been living in a housing complex for students and faculty at NYU since May 2012 when the U.S. State Department (under Hillary Clinton) negotiated their highly-publicized escape.

When he lived in China, Chen fought authorities on human rights issues, particularly in rural areas. He was an advocate for property rights, women’s rights and the plight of the poor. He also exposed an array of odious family-planning abuses related to China’s one-child policy.

Since arriving stateside, Chen, 41, has been primarily learning English, meetings with American professors and penning a memoir. At the end of June, though, he and his family will have to find a new place to crash. The most likely destination appears to be Fordham University School of Law.

Read more: Chinese dissident claims Chinese conquest of U.S. academia | The Daily Caller