Hundreds chip in to help Xi critic

BEIJING: Nearly 600 former students have come to the support of a law professor fired from an elite Beijing university for his outspoken criticism of President Xi Jinping, raising more than 100,000 yuan (452,000 baht) in donations.

Xu Zhangrun, who taught at Tsinghua University for more than 20 years, wrote an open letter to thank the alumni for their backing.

But Mr Xu, who was abruptly detained by police for nearly a week last month before being sacked, wrote that the money should be sent instead to those in greater need.

“I’m nearing 60 years of age and although my eyesight is dim, my body remains in good health and I can work to earn money for food,” he said.

In Sunday’s letter, Mr Xu was still critical of the regime and vowed to carry on writing. “The evil nature of the political system will not change,” he wrote.

“For each day that we remain alive, we will keep calling out, for this is our responsibility and also our destiny.”

Mr Xu, 57, was fired from Tsinghua on the grounds that his essays violated a staff code of conduct issued by the education ministry.

It also referred to a police allegation that Mr Xu had solicited prostitutes during a trip to Chengdu last year, which his friends previously dismissed as “ridiculous and shameless”.

Beijing has faced criticism in the past for accusing dissidents or activists of sex crimes.

The sudden detention of a rare government critic in the heavily censored world of Chinese academia alarmed activists and intellectuals. Critics said it illustrated the narrowing space for dissent under Mr Xi.