Tim Tai, Photography Editor

University President Peter Salovey has responded to student concerns over his involvement at the Yale U.S.-China Colloquium alongside Ping Huang, who serves as the consul general of the People’s Republic of China in New York.

In a letter published by the News, students from China and Hong Kong criticized Salovey’s participation in an event with Huang, who denied the Uyghur genocide at a World Affairs Council meeting in Philadelphia last year. In August 2022, a United Nations human rights report found that China was responsible for “serious human rights violations” of the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang province.

“Your silence on the Chinese government’s human rights abuses and the impact they have on the Yale community, coupled with your presence alongside a Chinese government official who has publicly defended the abuses against the Uyghurs, could be perceived as an endorsement of the Chinese government’s oppressive policies and a cover-up of the human rights violations under the guise of ‘peaceful coexistence’,” the students’ letter read.

Salovey told the News that he was unable to attend the Colloquium in person due to his observation of Passover. However, a Yale student had asked him to record a video for the event, which he submitted.

“This does not constitute approval of all Chinese policies,” Salovey wrote in a letter privately addressed to the concerned students. “But keeping open the links between U.S. and Chinese universities is key to making progress, even when there are complex political challenges at the government level.”

In the letter, which was obtained by the News, Salovey wrote that Yale works on certain world challenges, such as public health and climate change, which can “only be addressed on a global level.” He added that Yale faculty work closely with their Chinese counterparts, and that his involvement in the event was not political in purpose, but rather to support academic institutional partnerships in China.

However, the University has not always been indifferent to human rights concerns in China. Last year, the News found that the University’s Advisory Committee on Investor Responsibility had begun to investigate potential investments in Chinese companies due to concerns about human rights violations, although the office has remained silent on the issue ever since.

Salovey ended the letter to the students by stating that Yale has a “steadfast commitment” to its international students and scholars, referring them to the University’s free expression policies. The president also said that he would ask Pilar Montalvo, the assistant vice president for university life, to reach out to the students to discuss the University’s diversity, equity and inclusion policy.  

“We spoke about the impact of challenging classroom conversations and dynamics and how that may impact a student’s mental health and/or academic success,” Montalvo told the News.

However, in their open letter published in the News, the anonymous students questioned where the University should draw the line when it comes to free speech.

“As Yale students, we value academic exchanges that foster intellectual diversity and collaboration across different nationalities,” the letter said. “However, we caution against the potential misuse of Yale’s academic credentials to condone human rights abuses.”

The students who wrote the letter encouraged Salovey to “address and inquire” about the Chinese government’s participation in human rights abuses, and pushed for Yale to “take a firm stance” against those violations.

When it comes to raising criticisms against the Chinese government, some Chinese faculty and students at Yale shared that they are hesitant to publicly express their own beliefs.

“Under the current geopolitical tension between [the] two countries, and it’s very difficult in a University context, it’d be very unlikely for someone to stand out [with their opinion],” said one Chinese professor, who has been granted anonymity due to concerns about retaliation from the Chinese government.

However, the professor said they believed that advocating for the event to be blocked was counterproductive to the mission of free speech. Open discussion and dialogue is an opportunity to resolve conflict, the professor told the News.

The Association of Chinese Students and Scholars at Yale, who organized the colloquium, did not respond to a request for comment.

The first collaboration between Yale and China took place in 1835.