International Expert Community Letter in Support of Professor Anne-Marie Brady

This Letter has been organized in support of Professor Anne-Marie Brady as she is facing a review of her work by the University of Canterbury in New Zealand. More than 120 international experts on China-related matters have signed this Public Letter. This supportive action has been organized by Charles Burton, Senior Fellow at Macdonald-Laurier Institute & European Values Center for Security Policy.

The action concerns the following report:

Report by Professor Anne-Marie Brady submitted to the New Zealand Parliament’s Justice Select Committee in July 2020: “Holding a Pen in One Hand, Gripping a Gun in the Other”

LETTER TO:

Professor Cheryl de la Rey
Vice-Chancellor
University of Canterbury
New Zealand

COPY TO:
Professor Ian Wright
Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Research
University of Canterbury
New Zealand

Dear Professor de la Rey,

We are international colleagues of Professor Anne-Marie Brady who we know as a distinguished scholar at the University of Canterbury and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand. Her ground-breaking research on the United Front work of the Chinese Communist Party has had a profound impact internationally based as it is on meticulous research and her analytical insights over 20 years of scholarship in this area.

Professor Anne-Marie Brady’s work has had a far reaching impact on public and policy discussions globally, which is why we were dismayed to read Martin Van Beynen’s report in Stuff entitled “Canterbury Uni orders review into publication by China expert Anne-Marie Brady”. All of us are familiar with Professor Brady’s superb report “Holding a Pen in One Hand, Gripping a Gun in the Other” that was submitted to the New Zealand Parliament’s Justice Select Committee this past July. We are shocked to read that your Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ian Wright, gave a statement to the press confirming that the University was entertaining the complaints, and giving them currency by explaining that they allege that the paper contains “manifest errors of fact and misleading inferences.”

We, who know this area, can see no manifest errors or misleading inferences based on the evidenced material provided in the report. The paper does not make “inferences.” People who study it may draw some, but that does not mean the paper made them, misleading or otherwise. Since Professor Wright publicly voiced the allegations a group of us peers again went through Professor Brady’s Parliamentary submission. We find in it no basis for the allegations. Some of the links in its comprehensive sourcing have gone stale since she submitted it but those URLs all still work if put into Wayback or archive.today.

We are disappointed to see no prompt follow-up, explanation or clarification of the University’s position concerning the allegations. The impression left by that published report should have been corrected to show that the University did not intend any endorsement of the complaints, nor an approval or acceptance of complaints to the University as the appropriate way to criticise academic work. The silence has been interpreted as collaboration in slander against a very distinguished scholar whose work has been consistently based on sound social scientific methodology.

We would have expected you to stand up for your university, the right of any of its members to publish their research freely, however contentious, and for Professor Brady as a brave colleague. She has been the target of a harassment campaign and threatening menace because of the serious implications of her important research.

We ask that you issue a prompt and full apology to Professor Brady on behalf of the University of Canterbury for not rejecting the complaints against Professor Brady and instead referring the complainants to the normal way of disagreeing with a paper – publishing their criticism. Professor Wright should publicly apologise for allowing his statement to give credence to the complaints, whether or not he intended that.

We know of no valid basis for any “review” of Professor Brady’s work other than by her peers and other researchers and commentators, as is normal for academic research and publication. That will and should include informed criticism as and if grounds emerge. Her publications are subject to peer review. They have brought great international credit to your University. You risk destroying that credit, to leave it with her alone.

SIGNED:

1. Aaron L. Friedberg, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, Princeton University, USA
2. Adrian Zenz, Senior Fellow in China Studies, Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, USA
3. Aki Tonami, Associate Professor, University of Tsukuba, Japan
4. Alexander Maxwell, Senior Lecturer in History, Victoria University of Wellington New Zealand
5. Amanda Black, Associate Professor, Lincoln University, NZ
6. Anders Corr, Principal, Corr Analytics, USA
7. Andre Laliberté, Professor, University of Ottawa, Canada
8. Andréa Worden, Non-resident research fellow, Sinopsis, U.S.
9. Andreas Fulda, Associate Professor, University of Nottingham, UK
10. Andrew Nathan, Professor, Columbia University, USA
11. Anita Chan, Visiting retired professor, Australian National University, Australia
12. Anna Zádrapová, Analyst at Red Watch Program, European Values Centre for Security Policy, CZ
13. Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of International Relations, University of Pennsylvania
14. Barbara Hartley, Independent Researcher, Australia
15. Barrett L. McCormick, Marquette University, USA
16. Benedict Rogers, Chief executive And Founder of Hong Kong Watch and Deputy Chair UK Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, UK
17. Bradley Thayer, Professor, University of Texas San Antonio, USA
18. Carla P. Freeman, China Studies, JHU SAIS, Washington DC
19. Carolyn Cartier, Professor, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
20. Casper Wits, University Lecturer East Asia Studies, Leiden University, The Netherlands
21. Catherine Churchman, Lecturer, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ
22. Clive Hamilton, Professor of Public Ethics, Charles Sturt University, Canberra, Australia
23. Consiglio Di Nino, former Senate of Canada senator, CA
24. Daisy Lee, Correspondent, Epoch Times, NZ and HK
25. David Robinson, Co-Founder and CEO, Internet 2.0, Australia
26. David Shambaugh, Gaston Sigur Professor of Asian Studies, Political Science and International Affairs, George Washington University, USA
27. David Shullman, Senior Advisor, International Republican Institute, USA
28. David Schak, Nathan campus, Griffith University, AU
29. Dean Baxendale, President and Publisher of Optimum Publishing International, CA
30. Demetrius Cox, Lieutenant Commander, US Navy (Retired), USA
31. Didi Kirsten Tatlow, Senior Fellow at Asia Program at DGAP, Senior Fellow at Sinopsis, DE
32. Ding Qiang, NZ Values Alliance, NZ
33. Donald Clarke, Professor, George Washington University, USA
34. Dong Luobin, NZ Values Alliance, NZ
35. Dorothy J. Solinger, Professor, Emerita, UC Irvine, USA
36. Edward Friedman, Emeritus Professor, University of Wisconsin, USA
37. Edward Lucas, Senior Vice President, Center for European Policy Analaysis, UK
38. Elizabeth Economy, Senior fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and Senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, USA
39. Eske Møllgaard, Department of Philosophy, University of Rhode Island, USA
40. Feng Chongyi, Associate Professor. University of Technology Sydney, Australia
41. Françoise Robin, Inalco, Paris, France
42. Freeman Yu, Secretary General, NZ Values Alliance, NZ
43. Frédéric Lasserre, Laval University, Quebec, CA
44. Gardner Bovingdon, Associate Professor of Central Eurasian Studies and International Studies, Indiana University, USA
45. Gary Chisholm, NZ
46. Gérard Hervouet, Emeritus  professor, Laval University ,Québec , CA
47. Geremie R. Barmé, Professor Emeritus, Australian National University, Australia
48. Gerrit van der Wees, Adjunct Faculty, George Washington University, Elliott School of International Affairs, United States
49. Gerry Groot, Senior Lecturer in Chinese Studies, Department of Asian Studies, School of Social Sciences, University of Adelaide, Australia
50. Gill H. Boehringer, Hon. Senior Research Fellow, Macquarie University Law School, Sydney, Australia
51. Greg Newbold, Professor Emeritus, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
52. Gregor Benton, Emeritus Professor, Cardiff University, Wales, UK
53. Harlan W. Jencks, University of California/Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (Retired), USA
54. Harold Bockman, Emeritus Professor, University of Oslo, Norway
55. Charles Burton, Senior Fellow at Macdonald-Laurier Institute & European Values Center for Security Policy, CA
56. Charles Horner, Senior Fellow, Hudson Institute, Washington DC, USA
57. Charles Parton, Senior Associate Fellow, Royal United Services Institute, UK
58. Chen Weijian, Editor and Correspondent, Beijing Spring, NZ
59. Clare Curran, MP for Dunedin South, NZ
60. Christopher Balding, Independent Scholar, USA
61. Christopher R Hughes, Professor, London School of Economics, UK
62. Christopher Walker, Vice President for Studies and Analysis, National Endowment for Democracy, USA
63. Isabelle Henrion-Dourcy,  Université Laval, Canada.
64. J. Michael Cole, Senior Fellow, Macdonald-Laurier Institute & Senior Fellow, Global Taiwan Institute, CA
65. James D. Seymour, Chinese University of Hong Kong
66. James Leibold, Associate Professor and Head of Department, La Trobe University, Australia
67. Jamil Anderlini, Asia Editor, Financial Times, Hong Kong
68. Jane Verbitsky, Associate Professor, AUT, New Zealand
69. Jenny Chan, Assistant Professor of Sociology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong
70. Jeremy Goldkorn, Editor, USA
71. Jerome A. Cohen, Faculty Director Emeritus, US-Asia Law Institute, NYU Law School, USA
72. Jiang Chaoyang, NZ Values Alliance, NZ
73. Joanne Smith Finley, Reader in Chinese Studies, Newcastle University, UK
74. Joey Siu, External Vice President, City University of Hong Kong Students Union, Hong Kong
75. John Dotson, Editor, China Brief, Jamestown Foundation, USA
76. John Fitzgerald, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
77. John Hemmings, Associate Fellow, Henry Jackson Society
78. John Minford, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University, Australia
79. Jonathan Hassid, Iowa State University, USA
80. Jonathan Mirsky, former editor, Times of London, UK
81. Jonathan Unger, Professor, Australian National University, and Editor, The China Journal
82. Joseph Bosco, Former China Country Director, Office of the Secretary of Defense, USA
83. Josephine Chiu-Duke, Professor, University of British Columbia, CA
84. Joshua Eisenman, Associate Professor at Notre Dame, Senior Fellow for China Studies at the American Foreign Policy Council
85. Julian Snelder, Director, Amiya Capital, NZ
86. June Teufel Dreyer, Professor, University of Miami, USA
87. Karin Kinzelbach, Professor, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg, Germany
88. Kate MacNamara, journalist, New Zealand Herald
89. Katerina Procházková, Sinopsis, CZ
90. Katia Buffetrille, researcher, École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris
91. Kerry Gershaneck, Professor, National Chengchi University, Taiwan
92. Kevin Carrico, Senior Lecturer, Monash University, Australia
93. Kevin McCready, Translator, former Australian Government Economist, New Zealand
94. Kimberley Kitching, Senator for Victoria, Australian Senate, Australia
95. Kingsley Edney, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations of China, University of Leeds, United Kingdom
96. Larry Diamond, Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution, USA
97. Lee Jones, Reader in International Politics, Queen Mary University of London, UK
98. Lesley Seebeck, CEO Cyber Institute, ANU, Australia
99. Louisa Greve, Director of Global Advocacy, Uyghur Human Rights Project, United States
100. Louisa Wall, MP, NZ Parliament, NZ
101. Lukáš Zádrapa, Head of Department of Sinology, Charles University, Czech Republic
102. Luke de Pulford, Coordinator of Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, UK
103. Magnus Fiskesjö, Associate Professor of Anthropology, Cornell University, USA
104. Mareike Ohlberg, Senior Fellow, German Marshall Fund, DE
105. Margaret McCuaig-Johnston, Senior Fellow, China Institute, University of Alberta, CA
106. Mark Selden, Senior Research Associate, East Asia Program, Cornell University, Managing Editor, The Asia-Pacific Journal, USA
107. Martien Lubberink, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ
108. Martin Flaherty, Visiting Professor, School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University
109. Martin Hála, Director, Sinopsis, CZ
110. Mary Farquhar, Professor Emeritus, Griffith University, Australia
111. Michael Barr, FAHA; Associate Professor in International Relations (Academic Status), Flinders University, Australia
112. Michael Dillon, China specialist, Formerly Director, Centre for Contemporary Chinese Studies, University of Durham
113. Michael Yahuda, Professor Emeritus of the London School of Economics and Political Science, currently Visiting Scholar the George Washington University, Washington DC, USA
114. Michelle Mood, Assistant Professor, Kenyon College, USA
115. Nicky Hager, Independent Journalist and Author, NZ
116. Olga Lomova, Director of the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation International Sinological Center at Charles University, Prague
117. Ondřej Klimeš, Czech Academy of Sciences, CZ
118. Pamela Williamson, independent researcher with a Masters in Conflict and Terrorism Studies from the University of Auckland, New Zealand
119. Peter Dahlin, Director, Safeguard Defenders, Spain/China
120. Peter Hartcher, Political and International Editor, The Sydney Morning Herald, Australia
121. Peter Humphrey, External Research Affiliate, Harvard University Fairbank Center, United States. External Research Affiliate, King’s College London, Lau Institute, United Kingdom
122. Peter Varnish, Professor University of Coventry, UK
123. Pitman B. Potter, Emeritus Professor of Law, Peter A. Allard School of Law, University of British Columbia, Canada
124. Richard Kraemer, Board President, US-Europe Alliance, USA
125. Richard Louis Edmonds, Former editor, The China Quarterly, FR
126. Robert Horvath, Senior Lecturer, La Trobe University, Australia
127. Robert Porter, Cyber-Security Fellow, CRS, Tama University, Japan
128. Roger Garside, Former British diplomat, United Kingdom
129. Ruan Ji, Lecturer, AUT, NZ
130. Sam Armstrong, Director of Communications, Henry Jackson Society, UK
131. Sandrine Emmanuelle Catris, Assistant Professor of History, Augusta University, United States
132. Scott Simon, University of Ottawa, CA
133. Shaun O’Dwyer, Associate Professor, Faculty of Languages and Cultures, Kyushu University, Japan
134. Shelley Rigger, Brown Professor of Political Science, Davidson College
135. Simon Chapple, Director, Institute for Governance and Policy Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ
136. Stephanie Hemelryk Donald, Professor, Lincoln University, UK
137. Stephen Blank, Senior Fellow. Foreign Policy Research Institute
138. Steven I. Levine, Faculty Research Associate, University of Montana, USA
139. Steven W. Mosher, President, Population Research Institute, USA
140. Stuart Russell, Professor, Macquarie University School of Law, Australia (retired)
141. Teng Biao, Grove Human Rights Scholar, Hunter College, USA
142. Terence Russell, Senior Scholar, University of Manitoba, Canada
143. Thierry Kellner, Professor, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
144. Thomas G. Mahnken, Senior Research Professor, Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, USA
145. Thomas Gold, University of California, Berkeley, USA
146. Thomas Chase, Lecturer, Monash University, Australia
147. Toby Dalley, Independent Scholar, NZ
148. Tom Grunfeld, Emeritus Distinguished Teaching Professor, SUNY, USA
149. Tom Sear, Fellow, UNSW Canberra Cyber, UNSW at Australian Defence Force Academy
150. Valerie Niquet, Senior Research Fellow, Fondation pour le RéchercheStratégique, France
151. Vanessa Frangville, Professor, Université libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
152. Victor H. Mair, Professor, Chinese Language and Literature, University of Pennsylvania School of Arts & Sciences
153. Victoria Tin-bor Hui, Associate Professor, University of Notre Dame, USA
154. William A. Callahan, London School of Economics, UK
155. Yaxue Cao, Founder and Editor, China Change, United States
156. Yuan-kang Wang, Western Michigan University, USA

If you want to sign this letter, email us your name, affiliation and country at: bradyacademicfreedom@yahoo.com