Thursday, Sept. 26, the College of William and Mary hosted Chinese dissident Wang Dan for his talk titled, “Understanding Today’s China.” A central figure in the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests, Wang has recently come under fire for multiple allegations of sexual assault.
Wang is an active participant of the Chinese democracy movement and formerly taught at National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan. In 2023, at least six individuals accused Wang of sexual assault.
The department of government, the Whole of Government Center of Excellence, the Reves Center for International Studies, the international relations department and the Global Research Institute sponsored Wang’s recent visit to the College.
Visiting assistant professor of government Sophia Hart led a lunchtime talk and evening presentation with Wang. This was the third time Hart had invited Wang to the College. His first visit was in 2009, while his second was in 2019 for the 35th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre.
“I’ve always been interested in Tiananmen Square because I worked in the American embassy from 1989 to 1991, and I got there in August of 1989, a couple of months after the massacre. And of course, I didn’t meet Wang Dan at that time, but once I came to William and Mary and began teaching, I thought it would be instructive for students to get a chance to meet someone who was a part of that important history,” she said.
As an organizer of the 1989 Chinese democracy protests, Wang has been arrested multiple times by the Chinese government. He has since been working as an activist and scholar in the U.S. and Taiwan. He is currently on a tour for his book, “The Fifty Questions on China.”
Both of Wang’s recent talks at the College were widely attended.
“It was packed and there were great questions,” Hart said about the lunchtime event. “It was a very nice discussion — those were all very academic questions people were asking, there wasn’t anything about the legal case. But there were some professors, mostly students, and it was a very engaging event.”
The evening presentation was met with more criticism. Two students independently decided to ask Wang and Hart about the allegations against Wang. One student, who requested to remain anonymous due to being a Chinese national, asked to speak to Wang before the event.
“Dr. Wang, how do unresolved sexual allegations — such as the one against you last year in Taiwan on multiple counts, not just the one in the court, but others that have been reported — affect the path to the future that we all want for China and the world?” she asked.
Wang cited the concluding investigation in response.
“After several months of investigation, the prosecutor found no evidence of that. So they dropped any charges. I think that proved my innocence. And I believe we have to believe in the justice, in the rule of law. That’s the foundation of democracy. That’s all I can say,” Wang responded.
Another student, Adam M., decided to ask a question targeted at Hart during the Q and A section of the talk. Adam requested his last name concealed out of safety concerns. He said some attendees at the event tried to take videos of him as he was asking his question.
“How are students meant to believe that William and Mary cares for victims of sexual assault and rape in our community when William and Mary invited guest lecturers like Wang Dunn with multiple outstanding allegations of sexual misconduct?” he asked.
Hart responded similarly to Wang.
“Thank you for your question. I’d like to answer it by saying that all of those charges have been dropped and he was found not guilty. So we let the rule of law take over in a case like this,” she said.
Not all of Wang’s critics believe that his not guilty verdict absolves him of culpability.
“The younger generation, like people of my age, tend to support survivors because we know more about the nature of gender based violence. And we’ve read the DW report, which is probably the most important report on this issue, because there wasn’t just one. It follows a pattern, you know, DW is a very credible source.” the Chinese student said.
In July 2023, German media outlet Deutsche Welle reported an investigation into the history of allegations against Wang. Along with sharing the stories of survivors who have spoken out, the article describes a pattern of Wang abusing his power to get close to and harass young male students.
Professor of government and Chair of the Government Department Marcus Holmes said he was not able to attend the event and was only alerted to the allegations through an email sent to him by a student an hour prior to the event.
“At the Department of Government, our priority is to create a safe and welcoming environment for all students,” Holmes wrote in a statement to The Flat Hat. “We are committed to preventing harassment and discrimination and fostering an inclusive space where student voices are valued. We also work closely with campus partners like the Counseling Center, The Haven, and the Dean of Students Office to foster a safe environment and support our students. These resources are always available to any student who needs assistance.”
Holmes added that the department takes student feedback seriously and continually seeks input on speakers and events through the Diversity Fellows Program.
“At the same time, we uphold the principles of free speech and expression, recognizing their importance in academic discourse and learning. Moving forward, we remain focused on balancing the well-being of our community with our commitment to open dialogue and maintaining open communication with our students,” Holmes said.
Representatives from the other departments that sponsored Wang’s visit to the College did not respond for comment.
The first student attendee who spoke to The Flat Hat is an active member of Chinese feminist circles and has engaged in much of her own research on the Tiananmen Square protests.
“He’s just such a central figure. And so when it came out, it came out as a shock to the community as in I guess, the Chinese diaspora and Chinese national students, et cetera, like people who do care about that history. It came out as a shock,” she said.
This student did not hear about the event until the day it took place, but when she did, she knew she had to speak to him.
“I just felt very angry,” she said. “Not at the government department, I’m genuinely angry at him. Like, personally, I have to admit like with Wang Dan it’s a little bit personal because I’ve been following this case for this long. And every time, not just like the thing itself, I mean, it’s awful that if you do something to anyone like that, but like all of his responses, all of the things his allies have been saying, all of the slander they have brought to MeToo movement, feminists, Chinese feminists, it’s pretty awful.”
Neither students felt satisfied with the responses they got during the event.
“[Wang’s] response was not shocking or surprising at all. There have been other feminists, Chinese feminists, who approach him, like in other events about these things, and his responses have been pretty much the same. Basically, lying through his teeth about the court, the court dropped the charges and they found me not guilty, etc., even though there are so many more nuances to the situation,” the first student said.
Adam described how when he spoke up, older members of the crowd were taking pictures of him, and he loudly told them to stop.
“I think that definitely could have been something that Professor Hart said or one of the other presenters could have said at that moment, like, don’t be taking pictures of students here,” he said.
Hart was glad that these students were able to ask their questions.
“The two students who spoke up, I loved seeing that they felt comfortable to do that. And that’s what’s great about this country. You could ask those questions and not be in any fear that you’re going to be in any trouble,” she said.
The allegations against Wang Dan arose last year, when Taiwanese student Lee Yuan-chun accused Wang of attempting to rape him in a hotel room in New York City on June 6, 2014.
Afterwards, DW also unearthed previously unknown allegations, suggesting a potential pattern of similar behaviors by Wang. According to DW, at least one of the new accusers reported his case to NTHU’s Committee on Gender Equality. Wang’s former assistant also stated that Wang often invited young men on overseas trips, with shared accommodations.
In 2015, NTHU did not renew Wang’s contract at NTHU after a five-year employment period. The move came after Wang expressed support of Chen Wei-ting, a prominent activist in the Sunflower movement, after it became public that Chen allegedly groped several women.
Some point to Wang’s significance in China’s democracy movement as a challenge in holding him accountable. NOTUS has reported that human rights activists that shared concerns about Wang Dan are often dismissed by their colleagues, “who suggested without any firsthand knowledge of the situation that the claims had come from the Chinese government.”
In an interview with The Flat Hat, Hart similarly suggested that allegations against Wang were orchestrated by the Chinese Communist Party, citing how they came out right around the time of the anniversary of the June 4 massacre.
“I think it’s fairly safe to say that that was engineered by Beijing and the date was chosen very deliberately and very politically to exercise the maximum damage to Wang Dan’s prestige,” Hart said. “What it indicates to me is he has hit a nerve and he did all the right things. He went back to Taiwan and went through the whole legal process to the rule of law to prove his innocence.”
Others view this claim as a way for Wang to deny accusations and discredit survivors.
“Sometimes, yes, the CCP does use similar sexual harassment allegations, against like supporters or dissidents or labor activists in China,” the first student attendee said. “However, I don’t think just dismissing it as such without looking at the evidence, looking at the investigations, looking at the report, is a responsible thing to do.”
Apart from Chinese politics, Wang has also weighed in on American political issues. After the 2020 presidential election, he said he wanted to hold off on recognizing Joe Biden as president-elect and criticized the media for biased reporting.
Wang declined a request for an interview with The Flat Hat, citing his “extremely busy” schedule. He has denied all allegations against him so far. Wang also denied reports that he said the Black Lives Matter was created by the CCP, calling it a lie.
The allegations against Wang arose during Taiwan’s #MeToo movement, which was sparked by the show “Wave Makers.” Duane A. and Virginia S. Dittman Professor of English and American Studies Elizabeth Losh, who studies the global #MeToo movement, spoke on the allegations against Wang.
“What’s interesting about this case is this is really tied to a specific person who has been very public about this allegation. So it’s not like one of these things where you have kind of powerful men listed on a spreadsheet with allegations against them. This is a much more credible allegation in that it’s tied to a person’s specific experiences.”
The first student who spoke at the event explained how in the context of #MeToo, Wang and his supporters have often dismissed younger activists who speak out on a range of issues, including sexual harassment.
“They basically dismissed everything the younger generation have been advocating in terms of fighting for more rights, fighting for freedom of speech, fighting for basically fundamental human rights for all Chinese citizens, no matter which class or where you are. However, they just kind of dismiss all of that and then say like, ‘What do you know? What do you, the younger generation, know?’ And it just feels like, well, you guys were students when you were protesting, right? And it’s just kind of ironic,” she said.
For some, Wang’s visit raises questions about the College’s responsibility when inviting guest speakers.
“How do you bring a controversial figure to campus and frame it in such a way that there can be some dialogue?” Losh said. “So what you don’t wanna do as an institution is help people whitewash their reputations. Because you are spaces of learning, you are spaces of debate.”
Some of the students see this event as a failure of research on behalf of the sponsoring parties.
“I would really hope that when we invite a speaker, just in general, we do a little bit of background check. It genuinely won’t take that long. I know as I described, there is a lot of layers and nuances and stuff. But like if you look him up, it’s not too difficult to find, this is literally in the Wikipedia page,” the first student said.
She suggested additional steps that the College could take if they do decide to host a speaker with allegations against them.
“I think there should be things in place to make sure the students are safe, right? Like there should be limited contact between the speaker and the students on a personal basis and if students inquire about this, the least you can do is say, yes, we’ve read about these things and even though the court couldn’t prove anything, we do recognize that and the speaker’s viewpoint on it doesn’t represent our viewpoints,” she said.
The second student echoed concerns about student safety.
“I just think that when there is that kind of ambiguity with something like that, probably the best course of action is just to not invite Wang Dan at all or, you know, anybody with similar allegations against him. And I think after the fact, I would say, probably not inviting him again and probably issuing a public apology over inviting somebody who is obviously so contrary to community safety,” he said.
Ultimately, Losh views this event in the context of a changing world where leaders can’t cover up their pasts so easily. To her, a changing world requires a changing response.
“I think that as institutions we need to make decisions about how we facilitate public conversations that respectfully include students and that acknowledge that questions about today’s leaders are not as neat,” she said.
