海角大神

Magna Carta, the 1215 British document credited with establishing individual rights and the rule of law, is celebrating its 800th anniversary this year with an of seven countries. However, it seems organizers were too ambitious when they arranged to display one of the world鈥檚 four remaining copies at Renmin University in Beijing this week: The exhibit was to the British Ambassador鈥檚 home, where tickets proved hard to come by.聽

According to the , the British Foreign Office put the move down to 鈥渁dministrative and logistical practicalities.鈥�

However, observers were quick to point out that a document the Times called the 鈥渃ornerstone for constitutional government鈥� would hardly be welcome in China鈥檚 current political climate.

President Xi Jingping has presided over a on dissidents, which encompasses not just protesters, but academics.

The administration鈥檚 targets are laid out in the so-called a party communiqu茅 first distributed in 2013. First on the list: 鈥淲estern Constitutional Democracy,鈥� which is labeled a 鈥渃apitalist鈥� notion: 鈥淭he concept of constitutional democracy originated a long time ago, and recently the idea has been hyped ever more frequently.鈥�

Number Two: 鈥淧romoting 'universal values' in an attempt to weaken the theoretical foundations of the Party鈥檚 leadership.鈥�

Although Magna Carta itself was like establishing a standard width of haberject (apparently a cloth for monks鈥� cassocks), its main ideas proved more enduring: briefly, that tyrannical King John needed to stop doing whatever he pleased.

Thanks to its defense of individual rights and due process, the charter could now be considered 鈥� in the history of the human race,鈥� in the words of British politician Daniel Hannan. But individual rights, due process, and challenges to authority are not exactly Mr. Xi鈥檚 cup of tea.

The charter鈥檚 relocation this week continues its now-you-see-it, now-you-don鈥檛 history in China: despite being a topic at , including at Renmin University itself, searches for the charter on Weibo, a Chinese Twitter alternative, come up empty.

US colleges with degree programs in China have insisted that their faculty do not answer to Chinese censors. if academic freedom were under threat, NYU Vice Chancellor Jeffrey Lehman told Congress this June.聽

But the firing of high-profile faculty at Chinese universities, such as democracy advocate Xia Yeliang, indicate that Chinese professors and students face a different reality. Writing about Peking University and several others that signed an international pact on academic freedom, the New York Times editorial board concluded that the government censorship 鈥� of its claim to academic freedom.鈥�

One of censorship鈥檚 chief goals may be a fait accompli: it's unclear whether Chinese students even care about their limited information.聽

Despite the presence of informants, most students toward the Great Firewall encircling their campuses, according to Harvard student, journalist, and China native Helen Gao. Coming from China鈥檚 new middle-class, they may 鈥渇eel they have little to gain, but much to lose鈥� by challenging the status quo, she wrote in a letter to the UK's Prospect Magazine.

It鈥檚 tempting to view Magna Carta鈥檚 aims as similarly 鈥渁ccompli,鈥� but that would be hasty, Harvard historian Jill Lepore noted in the New Yorker: 鈥淒ue process is a bulwark against injustice, but it wasn鈥檛 put in place in 1215; defended, and attacked, year after year.鈥澛�