Shantou University was a model for China鈥檚 reform. Now, why is it toeing the line?
| Shantou, China
On a rainy morning in January, Yang Ting stood in front of 150 people in an auditorium at Shantou University and recited a poem called 鈥淗omeland, My Dear Homeland.鈥� The poem, written by one of contemporary China鈥檚 most acclaimed poets, Shu Ting, is widely considered to be one of her best. But it was an unusual choice for this particular event: a two-hour recital in celebration of the Chinese Communist Party.
鈥溾�� was published in 1979, amid a cultural and political outpouring known as the Democracy Wall movement. In the poem, Ms. Shu explores the relationship between the Chinese state and its citizens 鈥� touching on themes of oppression and exploitation 鈥� in a way that would have been unthinkable just years before, during the state-sponsored upheaval of the Cultural Revolution.听
Ms. Yang, an undergraduate in faded jeans, said she picked 鈥淗omeland鈥� simply because of its passionate tone. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 think about its meaning,鈥� she said after the recital, as a group of children in gray People鈥檚 Liberation Army costumes streamed out of the auditorium.
Nearly 40 years since 鈥淗omeland鈥� was first published, the political winds in China have shifted once again. At the instruction of General Secretary Xi Jinping, the Chinese Communist Party has launched the greatest campaign for party loyalty since the days of Mao Zedong. 鈥淕overnment, military, society, and schools; north, south, east, and west,鈥� Mr. Xi, who is also China鈥檚 president, said during a gathering of top party leaders in October, 鈥渢he party is the leader of all.鈥�
Higher education is no exception. In fact, in 2016,听听that universities should be strongholds of the party. Shantou University, which has long prided itself for its commitment to academic freedom, has been hit especially hard by the ensuing campaign 鈥� one that could have far-reaching consequences. China has built hundreds of universities in recent years as it tries to train a new generation of highly skilled workers, particularly in science and technology. As those efforts ramp up, critics question whether the country鈥檚 authoritarian political system can establish an educational system that fosters the kind of creativity and critical thinking needed in a modern economy. Xi鈥檚 crackdown on independent thought has only deepened their suspicions.
鈥淗omeland,鈥� like any artistic work, is a reflection of the time in which it was created 鈥� a time antithetical to the recital held at Shantou University. That the poem was recited nonetheless is no small irony. But even more striking is the possibility that no one in the auditorium that day recognized the irony at all.
Blazing a trail
Shu received a national poetry award for 鈥淗omeland鈥� in 1981. That same year, Shantou University was founded with the help of a $38.5 million donation from a charitable foundation started by Li Ka-shing, a native of the Shantou region who had become one of the richest men in Asia.
Most universities were just getting back on their feet after being shuttered during the Cultural Revolution. But Shantou was a blank slate.听The university came to represent a new China, one that strived to open to the outside world. That spirit of openness would soon transform the entire city, a southeastern fishing port that has since become a manufacturing hub of 5.6 million people.听In the early 1980s, Shantou was designated one of China鈥檚 first special economic zones. By attracting foreign investment and technology, these zones helped kickstart the country鈥檚 economic boom. They also caught the attention of Mr. Li.
Li made his early fortune in Hong Kong, but was quick to see opportunity in the mainland鈥檚 reforms. Shantou became his focus, and Shantou University one of his most cherished projects. Li鈥檚 foundation has donated more than $1.28 billion to the school 鈥� making it the only privately funded public university on the mainland 鈥� and he serves as honorary chairman of its board of directors.听
In 2001, the university launched a series of reforms that earned it a reputation for Western-influenced education. Julia Hsiao, who, at the time, was an assistant vice-chancellor at the University of California at Berkeley, was hired to lead the initiative. Under Ms. Hsiao鈥檚 guidance, the university brought in dozens of foreign teachers, overhauled its curriculum, and experimented with new teaching and management methods. It created a credit system 鈥撎齮he first of its kind in China 鈥� and hired overseas architects for a campus upgrade.听
Zhu Wang, a Chinese professor who taught English at Shantou University from 2005 to 2014, said the aim was to replace the Chinese tradition of rote learning with critical thinking and creativity. The credit system allowed students to decide their own curricula at a time when enrolling in a set of required courses was the standard practice. Ms. Zhu said free and open discussion was not only tolerated, but encouraged.听
Peter Herford, a longtime CBS News producer who taught journalism at Shantou from 2003 to 2013, said no topics were off limit. The dean of the journalism school did advise him to avoid 鈥渢he three Ts鈥� 鈥� Tiananmen, Taiwan, and Tibet 鈥� but Mr. Herford ignored the warning, doubting that restrictions would be enforced. 鈥淚 was right,鈥� he said. 鈥淣o one ever told me to stop.鈥澨�
China鈥檚 Ministry of Education was听听from Shantou鈥檚 reforms. On June 29, 2012, the ministry entered into an agreement with the Li Ka-shing Foundation and the Guangdong provincial government to co-develop the university. That same day, Li struck an optimistic tone in听听he gave on campus.
鈥淚 would like to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation to every member of our faculty and administrative staff for your dedication and commitment to advancing reforms in higher education,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 have great confidence in the future of Shantou University.鈥�
Double-down
The direction of higher education took a dramatic turn when Xi came to power in November 2012. One of the earliest signs came the following spring, when an internal party memo referred to as听听was leaked. The memo called for the eradication of 鈥渟even subversive currents鈥� in Chinese society, including 鈥淲estern constitutional democracy,鈥� 鈥渦niversal values鈥� of human rights, and Western ideas of media independence and civic participation.
Although Document No. 9 wasn鈥檛 explicitly addressed to universities, it became a harbinger for听what was to come. In 2014,听听universities to 鈥渃ultivate and practice the core values of socialism in their teaching.鈥� Two years later, he called for their loyalty to the Communist Party. Officials from its anticorruption agency fanned out to campuses all over China to investigate potential threats to this new mandate. Last June, the agency released听听accusing 14 top universities of infractions ranging from weak party leadership to inadequate adherence to ideology. (In 2015, China鈥檚 minister of education听听on textbooks that promote Western values, and said criticism of the Party shouldn鈥檛 be allowed in the classroom.)
Kristin Shi-Kupfer, the director of research on public policy, society, and the media at the Mercator Institute for China Studies in Berlin, said Xi鈥檚 disregard for notions like pluralism and freedom of expression has been clear since he first took office. She doesn鈥檛 expect him to change anytime soon. 鈥淭here had been an expectation that once Xi Jinping established his power, he would be a little bit more relaxed,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his has clearly not been the case.鈥� Instead, she warned, things are likely to get worse for those who don鈥檛 fall in line. Nonconformity has become a liability in Xi鈥檚 new era. Last January, to give just听, a professor at a university in Shandong Province was fired for posting critical remarks about Mao on Weibo, one of China鈥檚 most popular social media platforms.
Shantou University鈥檚 own troubles started in the fall of 2016. On Oct. 12, a team of inspectors from the Communist Party鈥檚 branch in Guangdong Province descended on the university鈥檚 lush, tree-lined campus. For the next 50 days, they interviewed faculty members and students and examined syllabi and textbooks, evaluating party loyalty.
On March 2, 2017, Yang Hanjun, the head of the inspection team, shared its findings with university officials. The results were dismal. Mr. Yang accused the university鈥檚 party committee 鈥� every university in China has one 鈥� of weak leadership and of failing to implement provincial and nationwide party policies, according to听听posted on the university鈥檚 website. He said the committee needed to strengthen its supervision of foreign teachers, classroom discussions, and even online posts.
The university responded quickly. In early April, it听听named Jiang Hong. Then, on June 26, the university鈥檚 party committee released听. The plan called for ideological and political education, including what has since been enshrined in the party鈥檚 constitution as 鈥淴i Jinping Thought,鈥� to become priorities in and outside the classroom.
News of the plan sent ripples through the Shantou community. Many people on campus were outraged; so, too, were alumni and former faculty. 鈥淭hat is the exact opposite of what a university is supposed to be,鈥� said Dan Trotter, an American business professor who taught at Shantou from 2011 to 2016. 鈥淯niversities aren鈥檛 meant to be propaganda centers. They鈥檙e meant to be places where people try to discover truth.鈥�
Palpable shift
At the start of the school year, in September, it didn鈥檛 take long for students to notice Shantou had changed. Dozens of billboards and posters around campus reminded passersby of the virtues of the Communist Party. The campaign intensified around the time of the 19th Party Congress in October. On the white-tile facade of a five-story dormitory, the 12 鈥渃ore socialist values鈥� were emblazoned in 24 Chinese characters. The university, observed one student, was becoming more and more red.
There were plenty of subtler changes, too. Zhu Haibin, a soft-spoken sophomore, said some of his teachers had started to avoid sensitive topics in class. Last semester, his law professor even warned students of a 鈥渞ed line.鈥� 鈥淲hen it came to the situation of civil rights in China, the teacher didn鈥檛 dare speak,鈥� Mr. Zhu said. 鈥淗e would talk about things in theory, but not in practice.鈥�
As the Party tightens its control over Shantou, the influence of the Li Ka-shing Foundation has started to wane, according to dozens of teachers and students interviewed for this story. On a recent visit, its on-campus offices were empty: lights turned off, desks and cabinets bare. Across from the offices, on the other side of the courtyard, a conference room now seemed to be a 19th Party Congress study room.听Stacks of party handbooks were spread across a long wooden table. Against the back wall was a floor-to-ceiling poster board with party slogans printed in red and yellow characters.
When reached for comment, the Li Ka-shing Foundation said it was still involved with Shantou University and that it moved its offices to the nearby city of Shenzhen to comply with a new Chinese law regulating foreign nonprofit organizations. 鈥淢r. Li is well known for his commitment to education in China,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淪ince 1981, he has understood that the delicate nuances of navigating the maze of changing regulations can be difficult. But he has never shied from his commitment.鈥�听
In November, the foundation announced that it would donate an additional 2 billion Hong Kong dollars (about $255 million) to Shantou University.听Yet for some of the university鈥檚 10,000 students, no amount of money could ease their concerns about the Party鈥檚 growing presence on campus: the ubiquitous propaganda, the required lectures on the 19th Party Congress, the quiet fear of being reported by a classmate for crossing an invisible line. Bella, a senior who gave only her English name, said that she had become resigned to most of it. But she still felt sad. 鈥淚鈥檓 going to study in Shanghai next year,鈥� she said with a sigh. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it will be any different there.鈥�
Xie Yujuan contributed to this report.
Editor's note: A previous version of this story misstated Peter Herford鈥檚 role at CBS News. He was a producer.
