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Letters

Feel strongly about these letters, or any other aspects of the news? Share your views by emailing us your Letter to the Editor at letters@scmp.com or filling in this Google form. Submissions should not exceed 400 words.
On behalf of California Scholars for Academic Freedom, an organisation of over 200 scholars in higher education in California dedicated to the defence of academic freedom, we would like to draw attention to cases involving Chinese scholars associated with the University of Michigan.
To the cases of Jian Yunqing and Han Chengxuan as well as those of Bai Xu, Zhang Zhiyong and Zhang Fengfan, which were related to biological materials that were brought into the country, we must now add the tragic death of Dr Wang Danhao after falling from a building on the University of Michigan campus in March.
Acclaimed as a brilliant researcher with a bright future ahead of him, Dr Wang’s sudden demise reportedly was preceded by an intensive interrogation session by federal investigators.
We see no indication that the University of Michigan has done much to rectify its lack of support for its Chinese scholars in the face of heavy-handed tactics employed by federal authorities.
We are especially disturbed by the silence of the University of Michigan administration. To our knowledge, an email on Dr Wang’s death was only sent to the College of Engineering over a week after it occurred.
We urge the university to jettison the complicity of silence that seems to have enveloped its administration, and stand up for its students and scholars: first, by demanding a thorough investigation of Dr Wang’s death and releasing all relevant information – including surveillance video – in its possession to the public; and second, by initiating legal action to curtail the activities of federal law enforcement that amount to intrusive attacks on university personnel, students and visitors.
Lisa Rofel, professor emerita, University of California, Santa Cruz; Catherine Liu, professor, University of California, Irvine; and Stephen Roddy, professor, University of San Francisco
IOC’s gender screening a step backwards
Last month, the International Olympic Committee announced that from the 2028 Los Angeles Games, all women’s event competitors must pass an SRY (sex determining region Y) gene screening.
During the Paris Olympics, boxers Imane Khelif from Algeria and Lin Yu-ting representing Chinese Taipei were embroiled in controversies regarding their gender. Lin and Khelif had not been allowed to compete in the International Boxing Association’s 2023 world championships after the IBA said they had failed eligibility tests. However, the IOC cleared them to compete in Paris in 2024, saying the IBA’s decision was arbitrary. The IOC later stripped the IBA of recognition as boxing’s governing body, over issues related to corruption.
Last month, Lin was cleared to compete in female boxing events under World Boxing, the new governing body. Khelif has said she will take the gender test.
Professor Andrew Sinclair, who discovered the SRY gene in 1990, called the gender test approach “misguided”. France’s sports minister condemned it as “a step backwards”.
The test detects the presence of the gene but cannot tell how the gene is functioning, whether testes had formed or whether the body responds to testosterone. People with Swyer syndrome have one X chromosome and one Y chromosome in each cell – which is associated with the male gender – but female reproductive structures. Those with Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome (CAIS) also have an X and Y chromosome but their bodies do not respond to testosterone. Apart from those with a CAIS diagnosis, the IOC is willing to make almost no exceptions.
Among women, testosterone levels vary. Caster Semenya, who was identified as female at birth, has naturally high testosterone levels and was banned from competing in international athletics events because she refused to take medication to reduce her hormone levels.
Sport rewards natural gifts – height, lung capacity, long limbs. Why is this one gift penalised?
A 2024 IOC-funded study found transgender women athletes had lower lung function, lower-body power and VO2 max (the amount of oxygen used when exercising) than cisgender women, although they had greater handgrip strength, an indicator of overall muscle strength. Co-author Yannis Pitsiladis, a IOC medical and scientific commission member and a professor at Hong Kong Baptist University, stated: “Trans women are not biological men.”
In 1966, women athletes who wanted to register for the European athletics championships were subjected to a “nude parade” before a medical panel to determine eligibility. In 1967, Polish sprinter Ewa Kłobukowska was banned after a chromosome test – but gave birth the next year. At the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, only eight of 3,387 women tested positive. In 1999, the IOC scrapped the test.
By adopting a similar test with the same reasoning, the IOC is repeating a mistake.
Kit Wong, Ho Man Tin


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US-China relations

University of Michigan must stand up for its Chinese scholars

Chinese semiconductor researcher Wang Danhao died at the University of Michigan last month, reportedly after he was questioned by US federal law enforcement. Photo: Handout

Michigan community ‘seeks answers’ to death of Chinese semiconductor researcher Wang Danhao

Wang Danhao, a young and promising Chinese semiconductor researcher at the University of Michigan, took his own life after being subjected to ‘hostile questioning’ by US federal agents. Photo: Linda Wan

Community members and activists gathered on the University of Michigan campus on Friday evening to remember semiconductor researcher Wang Danhao. Photo: Linda Wan

Chinese embassy in US confirms death of semiconductor researcher Wang Danhao

Wang Danhao, a postdoctoral researcher at University of Michigan’s College of Engineering since 2022, is reported to have died after a fall on campus late on March 19. Photo: Handout

Opinion

Readers discuss cases involving researchers at a US university, and the International Olympic Committee’s gender testing requirement


Readers discuss cases involving researchers at a US university, and the International Olympic Committee’s gender testing requirement.


.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Readers discuss cases involving researchers at a US university, and the International Olympic Committee’s gender testing requirement

Readers discuss cases involving researchers at a US university, and the International Olympic Committee’s gender testing requirement