On Feb. 2, Cheng Yao, a famous Taiwanese nano-scientist in Tsinghua University, received a letter demanding that he leave China within a month after his one-day detention for a so-called bad attitude at the Beijing Security Bureau.

Confused by So-called Bad Attitude

After realizing that his visa was two days overdue, Prof. Cheng immediately made a report to Tsinghua’s administration and took the university’s official letter to file an extension application with the Exit and Entry Administration of Beijing. There, he was asked to express his attitude in the column Reason for Expiration in an expired visa report.

Although he said that he was unable to understand the question about “attitude”, Prof. Cheng was repeatedly required by the official to describe his attitude in relation to his visa’s being overdue. Furthermore, although he agreed to make the expiration payment, Prof. Cheng was ordered to stay in an investigation room for one day during which he was not allowed food for his diabetes-related hypoglycemia, because the official thought that he had a bad attitude.

Insisting on his innocence and outraged about his illegal detention, Prof. Cheng demanded an apology which was then rejected. Finally, he was driven out of the administration office at the end of the day.

Incomplete Record Unacceptable

Prof. Cheng also said that he argued with the police officer about his interrogation note: “The official simply did not want to record my words,” he said. “He asked me if there is anything I need to say, so I told him to note down that my request for some food to ease my diabetes symptoms was rejected and I was left alone without any care for several hours, all of which, however, was deliberately omitted from his record. But he still ordered me to sign the incomplete report. I refused to do that and finally I was forced to leave the Exit and Entry Administration Office at the 5:30 p.m. closing hour.”

Rights Threatened and Future Entry Denied

Afterwards, on that Tuesday (Feb. 2), police sent Tsinghua a notice accusing Prof. Chen of obstructing public affairs. Prof. Cheng Yao was asked by several high- level managers in Tsinghua University to admit his “wrong doing” according to the demands of the Beijing Security Bureau. Otherwise, he may not be able to enter China in the future, and the Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs Office also called him several times to notify him that he could possibly be refused entrance to the mainland, necessary to take care of his mother suffering from a stroke. “My freedom was impaired. In addition, I was threatened with no permission to enter China for my disagreement against the signature of a false report. I was detained and interrogated for long hours.”

A Scientist Famous for Achievement and Personality

Prof. Cheng Yao is renowned nano-scientist, who was authorized by the US Air Force in 1997 to develop radar that could penetrate clouds and vapor since he is the only one who had mastered the relevant technology. The Taiwan born and raised scientist finished his Ph.D. at Ruhr University at Bochum, Germany in 1989 before returning to the island where he worked at the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center and then National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. In 2002, he was invited to teach in the Department of Physics at China’s Tsinghua University, through the Hundred Overseas Experts Project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a scientific funding program.

Apart from his achievements in science and research, his articles criticizing China’s education system have also drawn wide attention on the internet in China. Chen told VOA that he was viewed as aggressive and arrogant by the directors of Tsinghua University, and was forced to change his work from nanoscience to basic science research after his Ph.D. students had been removed from his research team in the last eight years.

Read the original Chinese article