Li Shaomin (李少民), an associate professor at the City University of Hong Kong, has lectured in China on numerous occasions. On Feb. 25 this year, while in China, Lee suddenly went missing. Recently, it was learned that Li had been secretly detained by China's Ministry of State Security (MSS, 國安部) at Shenzhen customs -- and has yet to be released.
Li is a scholar known both inside and outside China. In 1982 he graduated from Peking University's economics department. After that, Li went to the US, where he received a PhD in sociology from Princeton University, undertook post-doctoral studies at Harvard's Fairbank Center for East Asian Research, and obtained US citizenship. In 1993, Li became a China consultant to the UN, offering demographics-related analysis and opinions. Next, Li worked as a professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and Peking Univer-sity. During this time, Li was invited to lecture about China and international commerce by many institutions, including Harvard, Columbia, Princeton, the American Enterprise Institute and National Taiwan University -- earning in the process widespread acclaim among business leaders and academics.
As an associate professor at City University, Li was frequently invited to lecture at a number of Chinese universities. Last May the propaganda and technology departments of the Chinese Communist Party headquarters jointly invited Li to Beijing to lecture on Net-economy issues, for the benefit of cadres working in related fields. The talk received a lot of attention. China Central Television (CCTV, 中央電視台) covered the lecture that night, and the response was extremely positive.
For a renowned scholar such as Li -- who is zealous in his promotion of Chinese modernization -- to be arrested is utterly shocking and incomprehensible. At the very least, Li's detention draws attention to three problems:
1. China's treatment of Chinese scholars who introduce Western society and science to China has involved first using them, and then suspecting them of wrongdoing. The Chinese authorities view academic freedom and democratic thinking as crimes. The fact that members of the MSS were waiting for Li when he entered Shenzhen clearly indicates that he was intentionally lured into custody. This isn't an isolated case involving only Li, but rather reflects the CCP's repression and obliteration of academic freedom and democratic thinking. We academics must oppose this.
2. Although China has written "establishing and implementing the rule of law" into its constitution, the MSS violates legal processes when it conducts secret arrests. Li's family didn't know whether he had disappeared or had suffered some other unfortunate fate. The MSS failed to observe China's constitution, trampling on human rights in the process. This needs to be rectified.
3. China's government has always appealed to students studying abroad to return and serve the motherland. But when the MSS starts arresting people at will, it detracts from the government's efforts, giving students the impression that China is a place with no guarantee of personal safety, where one can be arrested at will. Though they might want to return to serve their country, how can they dare put themselves in a position where they could be set up and detained?
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