China author Peter Hessler loses teaching post at Sichuan University
- No reason has been given for the university’s decision not to renew the writer’s contract, which was confirmed on Monday
- Hessler has written four books on his experiences in the country and is also The New Yorker’s China correspondent
American writer Peter Hessler – best known for his books on China – is returning to the US after Sichuan University declined to renew his teaching contract.
Hessler said on Monday he had hoped to continue teaching at the Sichuan University-Pittsburgh Institute (SUPI), but would return to Colorado at the end of the semester with his wife and twin daughters, as their visas would expire in the summer.
In a statement posted to Chinese social media platform Douban on his behalf over the weekend, Hessler stressed he had “greatly enjoyed being back in the classroom after more than 20 years”.
“I have been impressed with my students at Sichuan University, and I have also been fortunate to work with great instructors and staff at the Sichuan University-Pittsburgh Institute,” he said, in the message posted by his friend, the Chengdu-based translator He Yujia.
“We hope to return to China in the near future. Regardless, we will have very fond memories of Chengdu and of our experiences here.”
An employee at the SUPI in the southwestern city of Chengdu, where Hessler has been teaching journalism and English since late 2019, confirmed the decision but gave no reason for it. The dean of the institute, Minking Chyu, said on Tuesday that Hessler‘s appointment had been under an annual contract that required annual renewal.
“Peter and the institute are unable to reach a mutually agreed new contract going forward,” he said. ”This situation is very common for temporary appointments in the academic community worldwide.”
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Hessler, a fluent Mandarin speaker who is also known by his Chinese name He Wei, is China correspondent for The New Yorker and author of four books detailing his experiences travelling through China, including Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China and Country Driving: A Journey from Farm to Factory.
His nuanced storytelling was on display in a lengthy article published by The New Yorker last August, in which Hessler outlined how the Chinese government had responded to the Covid-19 outbreak after its spread from Wuhan. The article – “How China Controlled the Coronavirus” – was widely shared by other journalists and even the Chinese ambassador to South Africa.
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Hessler observed that the Chinese government had “botched its initial response to the coronavirus” and noted the differences between his two stints in Chengdu, remarking on how the ruling Communist Party’s control in China was “even more powerful than I remembered, and relations with the United States were even worse”.
“For Americans, China was essentially closed,” he wrote. “Once the US started losing the small core of diplomats, journalists and businesspeople who were based in China, the already limited knowledge of the country was bound to be diminished.”
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A WeChat article by the account Aotu Doc said on Sunday that Hessler had planned to teach at Sichuan University for five years and described him as “perhaps one of the best non-fiction foreign language writers recording contemporary China”.
“As he has told his students in the classroom, recording is a very interesting thing,” it said, quoting from an older account by He Yujia. “For what is happening in China today, it is worthwhile for everyone to start from their own experiences and to record what is happening, no matter if you will write it or publish it. Because one day, your children will ask you what happened at that point in time, and if you do not record it, you will forget.”
Daniel Rechtschaffen, a government relations manager at the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, tweeted on Sunday that it was “sad to see such a great storyteller, who does wonders to breaking down negative foreign perceptions of China, get kicked out. This really is China’s loss as much as Hessler’s.”
