Editor’s note: The following article is a translation of a blog by Kim Jae Hyun, a Korean doctoral candidate in management at Shanghai Jiaotong University. In the blog, Kim comments about the recent announcement by Peking University to screen students for “radical thinking”.

A news report about Peking University garnered a great deal of attention recently: Peking University announced that it will implement a scheme whereby the university screens ten categories of “target students”, including those with “radical thoughts”.

Upon hearing the news, I thought the whole thing sounded strange. What exactly is meant by “radical thought”? Because I’ve spent a long time in China, I’ve come across a large number of Chinese students. When studying at Peking University, many of the students there had distinct personalities. For all I knew, Peking University seemed like it was always an open place, where people had freedom of thought.

Moreover, I thought that in reality, people with “radical thoughts” in Chinese universities were few and far between. This not only means that society lacks creativity, but it also causes a shortage of collective wisdom. In other words, the more people think differently, the greater the collective wisdom will be. For this reason, Peking University’s decision to implement a “radical thought” screening system is a major step backwards. Before this, I thought that the administrative atmosphere was too dense in Chinese universities and that this stifles independent thought. I thought that universities should therefore “de-administrate.” On the contrary, they now want to strengthen the supervision of students with radical thoughts – this really is an unnecessary move.

What’s more, this news made me think of an interesting story my former Chinese teacher once told me. In 2008, an ethnic Chinese student from New York used his summer holidays to come to Beijing. He thought that the Chinese economy has been developing extremely fast over the past few years, to the point that he began to question whether in the future he himself will possess any competitiveness by studying in America. He wanted to use this opportunity to witness first hand the strength of Chinese students, while at the same time study Chinese. According to the teacher, he was really interesting and bubbly. In the two months of studying in Beijing, he achieved remarkable academic success and mixed with Chinese students whenever he had the chance. Of course, there was no shortage of partying either.

On the day that he left China, he looked thoroughly calm and at ease, with all his previous worries upon first coming to China completely out of sight. When his teacher asked him why he looked so happy, he replied: “Chinese students have no creativity. I don’t have to be worried anymore.”

“He left extremely complacently.” The teacher told me.

In my view, a lot of Chinese students are more competent than students at prestige universities in America. Why is it then that China still lags behind America in many fields of study? I think this is because Chinese students aren’t as creative as American ones. America is a country that encourages students to think independently. It doesn’t matter if you think differently to normal people; you can keep thinking as long as it doesn’t cause any harm to others. And in China?

“Your thoughts are too radical.”
 

Source: Visa 看天下 Magazine; 2011. 9th edition
 

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Lee Kaifu: China’s Education System Cripples Innovation and Entrepreneurial Success
Can China Ever Compete with America’s Unrestrained Creative Freedom?
An Education: How China’s System Differs from the West’s

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Keywords: thought screening Chinese university radical thinking Chinese universities Radical thoughts Peking university