Excerpt

The Summer 2010 issue of Telos contained an article by Rebecca E. Karl in which she alleged that, as President of the Association for Asian Studies, I argued in an “inaugural AAS speech’” that “the current appeal to a Confucian-inspired harmonious society (hexie shehui) provides evidence for the fact that the old Confucian lack of rights-thinking is the cultural basis for the CCP's lack of rights thinking.”¹ No citation or footnote was offered for this allegation.

First, let me clarify that I never delivered an “inaugural AAS speech.” My official speech as president of the Association for Asian Studies was…