As Chinese postgraduates, we are always appreciative of our studying and living environments that Durham University has strived to create for us. We understand that living in such open and diverse community gives everyone opportunities to express their opinions and views as everyone of us, no matter what our personal socio-political stance, has a role to play living in the values: "respect, trust, responsibility, fairness, integrity, humility, open-mindedness, and objectivity."
On Friday, Durham Union is hosting a debate about "This House sees China as a threat to the West." We, of course, would love to hear different opinions and views from different people, but not from an extremist. Unfortunately, one of the participants in this debate is called Anastasia Lin, who holds bias and hostile attitudes toward China. We respect her free speech right but her opinions and attacks on China are not only vicious but also lack of evidence. And more importantly, Lin's misleading and groundless speeches will have a negative influence on the local community. Since Anastasia Lin is not creditable, we are concerned that she may use this opportunity to slander our country-China. As a result, it may cause tensions between Chinese students and others because we have witnessed the changes of global socio-political climate (i.e., Brexit and US elections).
