re: "'Craven cowardice': UNSW condemned for deleting posts critical of Beijing" (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2020, August 3)
Respect for free speech, a founding principle of democracy as of good morals, requires that you support the right of others to say what you find offensive, hateful and false. If some Chinese students loyal to the repressive regime in Beijing demand that comments they deem offensive, hateful or false be suppressed, that proves only their failure to respect the basic moral basis of democracy. If UNSW caves to such anti-democratic demands, then the university administration also proves itself to fail to respect the right to free speech, which is also a cornerstone of academic excellence.
Australia deserves better of its universities. Its students deserve better of UNSW. The Chinese people of Hong Kong and elsewhere deserve better of UNSW.
If some feel that a mistake has been made, they are free to present their case. If the repressive authorities in Beijing think false reports have been made about Hong Kong, Xin Jiang or elsewhere, the obvious solution is to invite in more independent observers to investigate and report. By seeking to suppress reports that are unfavourable, they confirm the likely truth of those reports.
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The above comment was submitted by Felix Qui to The Sydney Morning Herald article.
It is published there at https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/craven-cowardice-unsw-condemned-for-deleting-posts-critical-of-beijing-20200803-p55hy5.html#comments
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