Xia Yeliang (; born 4 September 1960) is a former associate professor of

economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

Peking University Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...

. He was one of the early drafters and signers of

Charter 08 Charter 08 is a manifesto initially signed by 303 Chinese dissident intellectuals and human rights activists. It was published on 10 December 2008, the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, adopting its name and style fro ...

in 2008. In June 2013, he was given notice by a

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

(CCP) official at the School of Economics that a faculty vote regarding termination of his position at the university was scheduled. He was dismissed in October 2013. PKU issued an announcement afterwards, claiming "In recent years, Xia's teaching evaluations has been consistently the lowest of the whole School of Economics. The school has received more than 340 student complaints since 2006. The hiring and promotion committee voted against the renewal of his contract on Oct 26, 2012. As a courtesy, the school gave Xia one year extension for possible improvement. On Oct 11, 2013, the committee voted again. 34 out of 37 members showed up. 3 voted yes, 1 abstained, and 30 voted no. The school therefore terminated the contract." Although media said that the complaints contained allegations that Xia gave "anti-Party and anti-socialism" speeches in class, the School has not made public the teaching evaluations or any other verifiable information regarding the evaluation process. In media interviews, Xia has claimed he has not been allowed to see the student evaluation instruments and that it is impossible therefore to determine if there is any factual basis for the claims made against him by the School of Economics. Xia called on supporters to contact universities across the country and suggest that he be given an administrative position in a library, something that Xia argued should not present a difficulty if his termination was solely based on student dissatisfaction and not politically motivated. Xia, a supporter of democracy and human rights, has been outspoken in the past going so far as to directly criticize

Liu Yunshan Liu Yunshan (; zh, s=刘云山, t=劉雲山, p=Liú Yúnshān; born July 1947) is a retired Chinese politician. He was a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the top decision-making body of the CCP, between 2 ...

, at the time the director of the CCP

Central Propaganda Department The Publicity Department of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, also known as the Propaganda Department or Central Propaganda Department, is an internal division of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) ...

with respect to

censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

and asking him, "how he thinks he has the power to control other people's thoughts." Liu later became a member of the

Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party The Politburo Standing Committee (PSC), officially the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, is a committee consisting of the top leadership of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) an ...

, the top leadership of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

, from 2012 to 2017. Xia was a visiting scholar at

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

during the summer of 2013 and visited

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

during August. Wellesley faculty have strongly rallied to his support. According to Xia, he has been pressured for years by university officials to keep quiet about his views and has been followed routinely by security personnel. Nevertheless, in 2013, Xia expressed surprise regarding the upcoming faculty vote. Xia and a few others are believed to be targets of a campaign underway since May 2013 to suppress 7 categories of information. In 2019, Xia has voiced support for then US President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

, citing his tough stances against the CCP.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Xia, Yeliang 1960 births Living people 21st-century Chinese economists Academic staff of Peking University People from Wuhu Chinese dissidents Charter 08 signatories Anhui University alumni Economists from Anhui Educators from Anhui