AFT Resolution

ACADEMIC FREEDOM AND ACADEMIC EXCHANGES WITH CHINA

WHEREAS, the People’s Republic of China is ruled by an authoritarian regime that denies its peoples the fundamental human rights of freedom of expression, freedom of conscience, a free press and media, freedom of association [including the right to form free and independent trade unions] and due process of law; and

WHEREAS, this regime has violently suppressed efforts to move China toward democratic rule and a respect for human rights, most recently and famously on June 4, 1989, in response to the Tiananmen Square protests; and

WHEREAS, this regime places unacceptable limits on academic freedom and refuses international and American scholars who have been publicly critical of the lack of human rights and democracy visas and permission to research inside China; and

WHEREAS, increasingly American universities and colleges, K-12 school districts and K-12 schools are engaged in academic exchanges with their Chinese counterparts, with a number of American universities operating what are, in effect, satellite campuses inside China; and

WHEREAS, many of these exchanges do not allow American scholars, teachers and students free and unfettered access to their Chinese counterparts and to Chinese society more generally, focusing instead on the limited exposure to features of Chinese politics and society that the Chinese government considers positive; and

WHEREAS, there have been disturbing incidents of self-censorship by American educational institutions and American scholars engaged in academic exchanges, including academic preparation of students participating in such exchanges, which avoids discussion of the denial of human rights and the suppression of movements for democratic rule inside China:

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers affirm its support for free and unfettered academic exchanges, as vital to the emergence of a global academic community, as essential to the spread of global understanding among different nations and cultures and as indispensable to the general development of freedom of expression, freedom of press and democratic governance; and

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers oppose academic boycotts and similar measures designed to impede free and unfettered international academic exchanges; and

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers condemn Chinese government restrictions on academic freedom and on free and unfettered academic research by international and American scholars; and

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers urge its locals with members working in educational institutions participating in academic exchanges with China to advocate that such exchanges be free and unfettered, and that, in particular, students participating in such exchanges be exposed to the full range of educated opinion on China today, including materials critical of the Chinese government’s denial of human rights and suppression of democratic movements; and

RESOLVED, that the American Federation of Teachers explore with Human Rights in China the establishment of a national clearinghouse on China-American educational exchanges in order to advocate for full academic freedom in classes and research on China and for free and unfettered academic exchanges between the educators and students of both nations.

(2009)