To the Editor:
I am writing about Ms. Yaxue Cao’s letter in The Wellesley News, which continues to make false and defamatory statements against me. She also wrote Why Is a Math Professor at Wellesley So Hard Hitting against an Economics Professor Fired by Peking University. These articles contain false information, mischaracterization and political character assassination in a shocking fashion. It is clear that Ms. Cao continues to mislead Professor Thomas Cushman who has no expertise in China and does not read Chinese language.
Ms. Cao pretends to fight for freedom and democracy but that’s a complete joke. It is deplorable that she resorted to smear campaign by going after my background, especially my hometown connection in China. The tactic of these so called “freedom fighters” is the exactly the same tactic used by Communist Party propagandists.
As a victim in the Cultural Revolution, I have been a stronger supporter and advocate for freedom and democracy in China. In 1989, I wrote in The Christian Science Monitor to support pro-democracy students in China. It is utterly unbelievable that Ms. Cao tried to implicate that I am close to the Chinese government based on some web searches. According to another journalist, this is not her first time to feed a bogus story.
Making false and defamatory statements in print against a U.S. citizen carries serious consequences. Ms. Cao will be held accountable for spreading false information to readers of her website chinachange.org, to her 54,000 Twitter followers and to the Wellesley College community.
On July 30, 2014, Wellesley College President H. Kim Bottomly wrote to me: “You are a great ambassador for Wellesley. Thank you.” Ms. Cao has damaged my reputation, Wellesley College’s reputation and Professor Cushman’s reputation.
I will present my case against these ridiculous accusations in the court of law. I am confident that justice will prevail. As a math professor at Wellesley for 22 years and once Chair of Board of Admissions of the College, I am NOT a communist agent.
Sincerely,
Charles Bu
Professor of Mathematics
October 30, 2014
So, it will be “Professor Bu, Professor Cushman, the Wellesley College vs. Yaxue Cao”? Wow, that’ll be…well…pretty cool.
Before the court starts, you might want to offer Wellesleyans an explanation why those two items on the website of the Federation of Overseas Chinese of Changzhou have been 404ed. Don’t try Coincidence Theory.
Ms. Cao is from Northern China, don’t forget. She lived through the Cultural Revolution and knows what Chinese like Dr. Bu must have endured. What more could be uncovered by waging a legal witch-hunt against her?
Nearly every point made against me by Ms Cao is either wrong or misleading. Since she continues to spread false information to Wellesley community and outside world, Ms. Cao will be held accountable for her acts.
Professor William Joseph, Chair of Political Science Department at Wellesley College, issued the following statement:
” I am appalled by Yaxue Cao’s vendetta against my good friend and colleague, Prof. Charles Bu. It is certainly her right to support Dr. Xia and to chastise Wellesley about our relationship with PKU. But she goes way beyond the bounds of decency in defaming Prof. Bu.”
Professor Bu knows perfectly well that every point (not nearly every point) I made about him is a fact supported by meticulous documentation. That’s why he has not been able to face up the three articles I have written (last one co-authored with Fengsuo Zhou). Instead, he continues to hurl insults and threats at me, hoping that Wellesleyans will believe him. He continues to prove and showcase his poor judgment to the Wellesley community and beyond.
Truth hurts. Doesn’t it?
Meanwhile, Professor William Joseph can make himself more useful by providing the Wellesley community a definition of “defamation.”