For years, Professor Yeliang Xia has served as an economist of distinction in China—a protégé of Justin Yifu Lin, the first avowed Chinese communist to serve as chief economist of the World Bank. Professor Xia has taught for decades at Peking University—the preeminent institution in China for social and economic sciences. With close ties to Wellesley College in the Boston suburbs, he also serves as a prime example of the fine line that so often divides academic discipline from freedom in China. And lately, he has come up on the wrong side of that line—at least with respect to his future as a member of the Chinese academic establishment. In October, following years of pressing for greater intellectual freedom, a pluralistic society, and a shift toward democratic expression in China, Professor Xia was removed from his post at Peking University...
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