Scholars urge publisher not to bow to China on censorship of academic papers
Petition started after Cambridge University Press agrees to block access to ‘sensitive’ articles in China
Scholars are using an online petition to urge Cambridge University Press to restore more than 300 politically sensitive articles removed from its website in China after a request from authorities.
The publisher said on Friday that it had complied with a request to block certain articles from The China Quarterly within China. They touch on politically sensitive subjects including the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown, the Cultural Revolution and the status of Tibet.
The petition circulating among academics calls on the company to turn down censorship requests from the Chinese government. Academics and universities reserve the right to boycott Cambridge University Press and related journals if it gives in to the Chinese government’s demands, it said.
The academics believe in the free and open exchange of ideas and information and that it is “disturbing ... that China is attempting to export its censorship on topics that do not fit its preferred narrative”, it said.