Students Denied Free Voice at Jiang Speech

The students of Harvard University were denied a free voice on Nov. 1 when Chinese President Jiang Zemin came to speak. With such an enormous interest in President Jiang's speech, it is unfortunate that so few students were lotteried into Sanders. Far worse was the fact that all the questions posed to Jiang were pre-screened before the speech. Harvard has been repeatedly criticized for this decision. Furthermore, only three questions were actually asked, and only one of these questions came from a Harvard student. We were not given the opportunity to express ourselves as we should have. The single "open-mike" question was not even asked by a member of the Harvard community, but by a member of the press.

In addition, the preface to this third question was indicative of a deep-seated prejudice against Asian-Americans. Jiang specified that the question was to be from an "American," which, under the circumstances, could only have been interpreted by Ezra F. Vogel, director of the John K. Fairbank Center for East Asian Studies, as someone not of Asian descent. This incident reveals the sad truth that by appearance, Asian-Americans are considered Asian first and must prove that they deserve to be called "American" as well.

Because of the short question-and-answer period, the issue of Taiwan-China relations was never confronted. Though Vogel did not guarantee that a question on Taiwan would be selected, he did affirm that this was an issue of prime importance. Harvard, and people worldwide watching the broadcast of the speech, did not have the chance to hear what Jiang had to say on one of the most relevant questions involved in China and U.S. relations.

Outside of the speech, the Harvard community was again denied a free voice. Indeed, opposition to Jiang was even censored at times. While Chinese flags representing support for the Chinese President were freely admitted onto campus, no posters or signs of protest were allowed in by the security guards. The H-R Taiwanese Cultural Society had direct clearance from Dean of Students Archie C. Epps III to hold a sit-down demonstation on Widener Steps. However, Taiwanese Cultural Society members carrying signs and posters were denied entry into Harvard Yard. This is an obvious violation of our right to free speech and an unfair treatment of everyone who was not a Jiang supporter. The Taiwanese Cultural Society Executive Board