美国新冠疫情日记 10/12

           The Tragedy Of A Chinese Scholar

Webster University in Missouri released a statement on the death of Liu Qiang who worked as a representative at the Confucius Institute’s Beijing Language University. 

According to the report, Liu served as an ex officio member of the Confucius Institute’s board. Liu died after a police search of his home.

The police and FBI searched Liu’s apartment last week amid a child pornography investigation. The police report did not include the cause of Liu’s death. The university said they have no evidence or reason to believe that Mr. Liu’s death relates in any way to the Confucius Institute at Webster University. 

Beijing University is sending a special work team to the U.S. to investigate while urging police to release Liu’s death report. 

The Confucius Institute was established around the world to enhance culture and language between China and other countries. In early September, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that he was hopeful that dozens of Confucius Institute locations on U.S. campuses would be shut by the year end. Pompeo had labeled the Institute as a foreign mission. 

We hope the police and FBI will come out with the report for Liu’s family. This is very sad at the time when the relationship between the U.S. and China is deteriorating, including the recent suspension of culture exchanges.

        孔子学院中国学者去世

位於米苏里州的私立韦斯特大学孔子学院中国籍院长刘强先生不幸於週二去世， 在警方的一份报告中说，当地警察及联邦调查局曾经到他家去搜索有关他涉嫌儿童色情案后之第二天发现他巳身亡。

韦斯特大学在一项声明中表示，对刘院长之身亡表示哀悼，他们将配合警方之调查， 找出死亡原因 ，但他们相信刘院长之死亡和校方应无关联。

北京语言大学也已派遣专人前往协助调查，為刘院长之真正死因找出答案。

我们非常遗憾中美关係近年来不断恶化，国务卿蓬佩奥已经明确表示将在年底前关闭在美国大学校园中的孔子学院， 这将是中美两国在文化教育的最大打击。