INFIGHTING AT FUDAN UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR AMERICAN STUDIES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SHANGHAI 000319

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/CM, INR/B AND INR/EAP
NSC FOR WILDER AND TONG

E.O. 12958: DECL: X1 MANUAL REVIEW
TAGS: PGOV PINR CH
SUBJECT: INFIGHTING AT FUDAN UNIVERSITY CENTER FOR AMERICAN STUDIES

REF: A) SHANGHAI 306 B) SHANGHAI 316

CLASSIFIED BY: Kenneth Jarrett, Consul General, , U.S.
Consulate Shanghai.
REASON: 1.4 (b),(d)




1. (C) Summary. During a May 21 discussion with Consul
General, Fudan Center for American Studies (CAS) Director Shen
Dingli in addition to sharing his views on Chinese leadership
issues (reftels),spent a great deal of time discussing
infighting at the Center. We share a summary of Shen's lament
as an example of the political jockeying for position and
personal gain that often takes place in China. Shen claimed
that his main rival, CAS Vice Director Sun Zhe was not trusted
by CAS staff because of his collusion with University Party
officials to enroll their children at U.S. universities and
Sun's efforts to obtain personal gain from academic exchanges.
Sun now plans to establish a rival U.S. studies center at
Tsinghua University. Shen was trying to foster a more

SIPDIS
cooperative atmosphere but noted that academic rivalries were
strong among other CAS academics. End Summary.


2. (C) In a Consul General hosted lunch on May 21, Fudan
University Center for American Studies (CAS) regaled the CG and
Poloff with stories of university politics and infighting at
CAS. Shen's comments on the sudden removal of Foreign Minister
Li Zhaoxing and on Shanghai leaders were reported in reftels.
CAS is China's premier U.S. studies center and its academics are
considered to be some of the leading U.S.-China bilateral
relations experts.

--------------
Using Position To Derive Personal Benefit
--------------


3. (C) Shen said that CAS Vice Director Sun Zhe had still not
come to terms with his failure to become Center Director after
former CAS Director Ni Shixiong stepped down mid-2006. Shen
said that Ni and many university party officials supported Sun
to succeed Ni as CAS Director. However, many CAS staff disliked
Sun because he had used his position as Deputy Director to gain
personal advantages. For example, Sun had helped the children
of Fudan Party officials study overseas at Columbia University,
Sun's alma mater. He was also involved in trying to set up a
joint Masters of Public Administration (MPA) program between
Columbia and Fudan. Sun had his own company which was acting as
mediator between the two universities and was to receive 70
percent of the profits from the program. The deal eventually
fell through, partly because University officials were
uncomfortable with the amount of money Sun's company would
receive. Afterwards, Sun introduced his contacts to Jiaotong
University. This angered many CAS staffers who felt that Sun
had betrayed Fudan by helping a rival school in Shanghai.

--------------
Playing Dirty - Spreading Rumors
--------------


4. (C) Shen added that the rivalry worsened after he, rather
than Sun, was appointed CAS Director. At that time, rumors
about Shen circulated on the Internet alleging that he had a
romantic relationship with one of his graduate students. Shen
believed that Sun was responsible for these rumors. Shen added
that University officials were also angered by the rumors since
anything that damaged Shen's reputation damaged the University's
reputation.

--------------
Jumping Ship To Form a Rival Institution
--------------


5. (C) According to Shen, Sun had decided that he could no
longer stay in Shanghai and would move to Beijing to set up a
center for American Studies at Tsinghua University. Shen noted
that although Sun had very strong ties to the Communist Party in
Shanghai and business interests (his wife owns a company in
Shanghai),Fudan Party officials had lost confidence in him
after he was unsuccessful in getting the CAS Director's
position. Shen said that he had tried to keep Sun in Shanghai
and had even called Shanghai Institute of International Studies
(SIIS) President Yu Xintian to see if Sun could get a position
at SIIS. Yu refused, stating that there were no open positions.


SHANGHAI 00000319 002 OF 002



6. (C) Shen worried that Sun's move to Beijing would have a
negative affect on CAS. First, his move was a blow to Shen's
reputation because it could be used as an indication that he was
unable to unify his staff. Second, Sun had a great deal of
expertise on the U.S. Congress and connections to U.S.
organizations, such as the U.S.-China Educational Trust (USCET).
Shen was concerned that USCET might direct its resources to the
new center at Tsinghua, once it was up and running.

--------------
University Politics - The Same All Over?
--------------


7. (C) In fact, Shen added that there had been bad blood and
mistrust among CAS academics for many years. Former CAS
Director Ni Shixiong cultivated this atmosphere as a means to
assert his preeminence. He believed that if academics were
fighting against one another than they would not oppose him.
Shen said that it was not unusual for CAS academics to block the
appointment of rival academics to the center. For example, CAS
Vice Director Wu Xinbo recently blocked the appointment of Ren
Xiao to CAS because he disliked him. There was also bad blood
between Wu Xinbo and Ni Shixiong.

--------------
Trying to Focus on Substantive Work
--------------


8. (C) Shen was tired of all this infighting and hoped that
these personal conflicts could be resolved soon so that CAS
staff could concentrate on their scholarly work. He said that
he was trying to serve as an example and be as accommodating as
possible. For example, he has been very differential to Ni and
tried to include him on many of CAS's events. He hoped that
this would prevent Ni from trying to undermine him and hurt CAS.

--------------
Comment
--------------


9. (C) The length of Shen's soliloquy about CAS infighting is a
measure of how bitter he feels about his struggle to control CAS
staff and has openly discussed CAS problems with many visitors,
including a group of energy experts at a dinner party attended
by Econoff and visiting Australian analyst. With the departure
of Sun, Shen may finally be able to move on and concentrate his
efforts on building the center.
JARRETT