Thread by @PM_Thornton

Chinese University of #HongKong (#CUHK) issues statement regarding the rumoured reorganization of the University Services Centre and its library "CUHK clarifies unfounded rumour," cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/en/press_detai… 中大澄清不實傳聞 cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/tc/press_detai… #香港 #中文大學

In 2005, The #China Journal published an article on the 40th anniversary of the USC's founding on its history & importance to the field of Chinese studies; Harvard University's Ezra Vogel, who sadly passed away last week, wrote the forward: journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.2307/20…

Ezra Vogel noted that, in the still-heated turmoil of post-McCarthyism in the US, then MIT professor Lucian Pye, suggested that a centre for research & study on #China be set up in #HongKong, "a neutral ground amidst the US intellectual battles of the day." #香港 #中文大學

The ACLS and SSRC set up scholarly committees, with the Carnegie, Ford & Mellon Foundations signalling their willingness to play a role. @jeromeacohen 孔傑榮(柯恩), then on leave & in #HongKong, quickly set up offices in the Marco Polo Court attached to the Peninsula Hotel #香港

As Ezra recalled, "It is now hard to recapture the scale of our ignorance about mainland #China
when the USC opened its doors...We did not even know #China's simple organizational charts...

"As much as we wanted to build bridges to #China & build up objective scholarship on China, we were seen at the time as part of the enemy, a thinly disguised institute for spying." How very sad, on this Christmas Day, to watch history repeat itself.

Most of us think of #China as having opened to the West after Mao's death in 1976, or certainly by 1978, with Deng Xiaoping's announcement of 改革开放. But Ezra reminds us that it was in 1971, during Mao's lifetime, that the first group of American scholars were allowed to visit.

They were members of the Committee of Concerned Asian Scholars, a group whose roots & experiences in the field were detailed by @lanzafab in his 2017 The End of Concern dukeupress.edu/the-end-of-con…

They were also-- all of them-- young researchers affiliated with the USC, whose first reports upon their return from #China were delivered to fellow USC scholars in #HongKong #香港

A decade later, in the 1980s, US foundations began withdrawing their funding for the USC, which was already well established as a mecca for scholarship on #China. Former Registrar of Chinese University of #HongKong F.C. Chen approached USC board members about moving to #CUHK

By the late 1980s, top #CUHK faculty members made the case to the #HongKong govt that when HK was returned to Chinese rule in 1997, "the support of the international community would provide an important guarantee of continued objective research" on #China

"In 1988 the Centre closed its old home at 155 Argyle Street and gradually moved all of its books to a beautiful new setting at the Chinese University" of #HongKong #香港

“By the 1980s, scholars from the mainland began coming to #HongKong to use the Centre's materials. Some collections in #China had more materials of
certain kinds than the USC library, but no collection was better organized, easier to use or more complete..."

Ezra said of the group that founded the USC that in 1963, "We hoped that scholars at the USC might develop a deeper understanding of what was happening in #China, to be passed on to students
around the world, and that the field of contemporary Chinese studies would flourish..."

"We hoped that #China might begin to open up and that our research might enable us to be a bridge as China began to join the world community. We
hoped that some day we would be able to work together with Chinese scholars in enhancing mutual understanding..."

Writing in 2005, Ezra concluded: "Now, forty years later, it has all come to pass." It is nothing short of heartbreaking, having only just lost such a luminary in field, to watch one of the legacies he contributed to us all being dismantled by #CUHK.

According to an RFA report, the director of the USC-- Pierre Landry-- has resigned upon hearing the plans for the Centre's "reorganisation." It seems that the #CUHK is planning to transfer control over the USC and its holdings to CUHK's main library.

"In January 2021, Zhao Zhiyu, of #China's National Philosophy and Social Sciences 'Thousand Talents Program' & dean of the School of Social Sciences, at #CUHK, will coordinate the restructuring & reconstruction" of the USC.

The "rumour" that the #CUHK administration is seeking to dispel is that the reorganisation is being called for externally because the USC is believed to be "colluding with foreign forces," an offence punishable under #China's new NSL for #HongKong #香港

RFA: 中大重组「中国研究服务中心」　中心主任请辞惹打压猜测　中大：绝无其事 rfa.org/cantonese/news…

More on the proposed "reorganization" of Chinese University of #HongKong's University Services Centre from BBC 中文 (h/t @ChongJaIan ) #香港 : 香港中文大學中國研究中心面臨「重組」，學者憂「中國研究的麥加」將不復存在
bbc.com/zhongwen/trad/…

According to the BBC, the case for reorganisation appears to be need and desire to digitise the USC's collection of materials. This, of course, is not a reason to reorganise-- the material could still be digitised and shared widely whilst maintain the autonomy of the USC

More from the @hkappledaily (h/t @ChongJaIan) on the "reorganisation" of the Chinese University of #HongKong #香港 #CUHK 中大中國研究中心突改組 大躍進饑荒文革檔案上繳 主任劈炮 hk.appledaily.com/local/20201225…

It looks as though the plan is to transfer the collection of materials to the the main library, and the mgmt of academic activities to the CUHK #China Research Institute.

Dean of the Social Sciences C.Y. Chiu claims that "only the outward appearance will change, but the 'genes' of the Centre will not change" 形貌改變了，但基因不變. But that's not possible: the entirety of the USC mission was to serve as a Centre for Chinese Studies...

And the beauty of the Centre was the fact that the materials were there, on site, being used by researchers from all over the world; and it's not possible to capture how the set-up as it was promoted academic synergies that a simple collection in a library could/will not.

By way of one example from my many very happy visits over many years to #CUHK's USC, almost 20 years ago I was a visiting scholar at the USC using the same materials as another scholar from #China whom I did not recognise...

However, over the course of my first week, I think it's fair to say we developed a bit of a healthy competition to see who could get to the library first, in order to take those bound volumes off the shelf (he was almost always there before I was, so was "winning")...

At the end of that week, Jean Hung (熊景明) organised a small evening event for scholars at the library, when I finally got around to speaking with my "competitor." He asked where I was from, and I told him “哈特福."

He replied，“我恨想去哈特福." I was sure he'd misunderstood me, thinking perhaps that I was speaking of Harvard University-- but, as the conversation evolved, it turned out that he really was interested in going to Hartford, Connecticut, where I was living at the time...

Because he was interested in researching the story of 容闳, the first Chinese student to have graduated from an American university (Yale in 1854, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yung_Wing). He went on to found the Chinese Educational Mission (中國留美幼童en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_E…)...

which brought 120 students..to the US from 1872-1881, housing most of them in Connecticut and around the Pioneer Valley in Massachusetts. Some of the boys never returned to #China, but ended up marrying and staying in the US. Their descendants maintained an alumni association...

and this USC visiting scholar from #China was interested in visiting in order to research the Mission. We kept in touch and I was able to help sponsor his visit, and accompanied him on some of research visits. A CCTV documentary came out of it, 《幼童》jishi.cntv.cn/C24998/videopa…

which I believe was later aired, along with a special exhibit, at the #HongKong History Museum.
All of this came out of a serendipitous visit between two scholars at #CUHK's USC, which could only have possibly happened in the way that it did because the USC operates as a Centre

Attached to but also independent from the #CUHK system.
I'm sure other #CUHK #USC alums have countless other, similar stories to tell of how the USC made possible scholarly relationships, projects and mentoring opportunities because of the way it is run now.

I hope that the #CUHK administration will provide a consultation period before the reorganisation that will allow input from #USC alumnae, such as myself; because the USC has always been a separate unit that provides invaluable research services to a scholars across the globe.

And that is how it should remain. There is no other facility anything like it in the world, and it would be a terrible loss to the field of China Studies, and for genuine exchange and understanding between #China and the world, which is needed now more than ever.

More on the proposed "reorganisation" of #CUHK's #UniversityServicesCentre-- a mecca for researches working on #China-- in #HongKong #香港 “千人计划”特聘专家主理香港中文大学中国历史资料库 敏感史料或会永久封存 - go.shr.lc/2M5FUWJ

Ezra Vogel in 2015: "#HongKong is no longer a place for interviewing refugees, but it still occupies a unique location as a gateway to the mainland and the #USC...We must do whatever we can to assure the vitality of the Centre in its next 50 years. Wansui." #CUHK #香港

English translation of @hkappledaily article on #CUHK's proposed "reorganisation" of the #UniversityServicesCentre (h/t Tobie Meyer-Fong): CUHK China studies center co-director quits after abrupt restructuring #香港 hk.appledaily.com/news/20201226/…

English translation of the @RFA_Chinese article (posted above) on the #CUHK's decision to "reorganise" the #UniversityServicesCentre Chinese University of #HongKong to 'Restructure' #China Study Center #香港 rfa.org/english/news/c…

VOA reporting that #CUHK is intending to dismantle the #UniversityServicesCentre due to "political risks" #香港 香港 中大中国研究服务中心将拆解 校方卸除政治隐患 voachinese.com/a/USC-At-CUHK-…

VOA: Ezra Vogel, "long-time chairman of the Centre’s internat'l advisory committee," had confided to several people that he intended to submit a letter protesting the planned #UniversityServicesCentre closure before being admitted to the hospital for surgery in mid-December.

Jerome Cohen 孔傑榮(柯恩)
@jeromeacohen, who founded the #USC, told VOA: “Why deal with this in extremely secretive circumstances, as if they'e ashamed of what they're doing, embarrassed for closing such an important academic institution?...

"We only learned of the matter gradually, as though it were sensitive & confidential information. Even some high-ranking #CUHK professors did not know until I told them. This is extremely embarrassing."

Jerome Cohen 孔傑榮(柯恩)
@jeromeacohen's remarkable account of how he came to establish the #UniversityServicesCentre in #HongKong in 1963 (it was moved to #CUHK in the 1980s), is here:
static1.squarespace.com/static/55c7279…

According to the VOA account, neither Jerome Cohen, the original founder, nor Ezra Vogel, the long-time director of the international advisory board of the #UniversityServicesCentre, were consulted by #CUHK about the proposed "reorganisation" plans...

which were quietly announced internally in mid-December, although the decision to close the #UniversityServicesCentre had already been made by the administration in November. voachinese.com/a/USC-At-CUHK-…

The Initium: #CUHK confirms at press conference that the #UniversityServicesCentre will cease to exist after "reorganisation;" Provost Alan K.L. Chan claimed "The most important thing about Chinese studies is research results, not academic & scholar services."

Dean of the Social Sciences C.Y. Chiu: "The #UniversityServicesCentre will no longer exist, but the soul and culture of service will remain." Provost Chan, who had not heard of the Centre before arriving at #CUHK, insisted that the "heart & soul" of the USC lie in its collections

Provost Chan also emphasized that for #CUHK, "The most important thing is the research results. If the results are not up to snuff, not matter how enthusiastic & how good the 'service' is, then I don't think it's a good use of taxpayer money"...

Provost Chan also pointed out that there was too much of a separation in #CUHK's #China studies between the modern/contemporary and ancient periods, and indicated that in the future, they should be housed under one unit.

香港中大：中國研究服務中心重組後不存續，未來逐一檢討中國研究機構
副校長陳金樑表示來中大任職前不知道該中心，同時指中國研究最重要的是研究成果，非學術和學者服務。theinitium.com/article/202012…

Louise Jones, Director of the #CUHK Library, stated at the press conference that after the #UniversityServicesCentre collection is digitized, its materials will be freely accessible online *but* that some materials need to be registered due to copyright issues.

Of course, this is major problem with parts of the #UniversityServicesCentre collection, which contains valuable materials, the copyright status of which is unclear. I would expect that investigating these issues would cause large gaps in the digitised version of the collection

To say nothing of delays in putting the material online. I imagine that much of the collection would be embargoed indefinitely, until the copyright and other legal issues could be decided definitively, greatly reducing access to the #UniversityServicesCentre holdings

On the press conference on the future of the #UniversityServiceCentre, @hkappledaily notes #CUHK head librarian Louise Jones emphasised that the elements of the collection that would be digitised would be available to all to access, "as long as there is no copyright issue."

"並在不構成版權問題的情況下，上傳有關資料至網上供公眾瀏覽." @hkappledaily 中心聯席主任李磊劈炮 社科院院長認「持不同看法」 hk.appledaily.com/local/20201229…

More from @hkappledaily on #CUHK's press conference regarding the future of the #UniversityServicesCentre today: 粗暴改組「中研麥加」 副校：我只係在意中大呢個名 hk.appledaily.com/local/20201229…

#CUHK Provost Alan K.L. Chan issues an Open letter relating to the #UniversitiesServiceCentre for #China Studies (USC) warning people "not [to] fall in the traps of divisive rumours" #香港 cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/en/press_detai…

But the reason for the so-called rumours, according the @VOAChinese report, is that the plan was hatched behind closed doors, without consulting the #UniversityServicesCentre staff, alumni, or its international advisory board (whose role it is, presumably, to advise #CUHK)...

As for the "misinformation" deplored in the Open letter, again, the #CUHK's first press release on 25 Dec announced a *reorganisation* of the #UniversityServicesCentre's "services and roles," but admitted at the press conference that it will "cease to exist" (@initiumnews report)

The VOA report quoted Jerome Cohen 孔傑榮(柯恩)
@jeromeacohen: "We only learned of the matter gradually, as though it were sensitive & confidential information. Even some high-ranking #CUHK professors did not know until I told them. This is extremely embarrassing..."

Jerome Cohen said to the VOA: “Why deal with this in extremely secretive circumstances, as if they'e ashamed of what they're doing, embarrassed for closing such an important academic institution?..."

VOA also reported that neither Jerome Cohen nor Ezra Vogel, the long-time director of the international advisory board of the #UniversityServicesCentre, were consulted by #CUHK about the proposed "reorganisation" (now closure) plans...

#香港 中大中国研究服务中心将拆解 校方卸除政治隐患 voachinese.com/a/USC-At-CUHK-… via @VOAChinese

As for "misinformation," the "reorganisation" of the #UniversityServicesCentre that was announced 25 Dec. by #CUHK (cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/en/press_detai…), even more embarrassingly suddenly became "中國研究服務中心重組後不存續" a mere 4 days later...theinitium.com/article/202012…

...which proved that at least some of what #CUHK was calling "frivolous rumours" that were circulating to in fact be true.
Of course, as the Open Letter points out, "The proof of the pudding is in the eating." 🤔
cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/en/press_detai…