Excerpt

For the last two years, the Chinese government has been attempting to tighten control over both academic and public discourse.¹ In addition to dismissing scholars such as Xia Yeliang from Beijing University in October 2013 for promoting democratic reforms and Zhang Xuehong from East China University of Political Science and Law in December 2013 for criticizing the government,² the government has recently moved to clamp down on the internet, preventing access to Google's services and disrupting VPN networks that allow the Chinese to circumvent government controls.³ The January 29, 2015, announcement by Chinese Education Minister Yuan Guiren of a ban…