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Cambridge Chinese Student Organization Involved in Election Scandal

Southern Weekend recently reported on an election scandal at Cambridge University. Cambridge suspended the Chinese student organization after it could not agree on electing a new president. It also disclosed the organization’s close ties with the Chinese government.

The incident started when Chang Feifan, who was the president of the Cambridge Chinese student organization in 2010, sent an email claiming that the organization’s board had agreed that she would continue her presidency in 2011. The email generated controversy among the members, who stated that no formal election process ever took place and called for one. As elections are a requirement, when the members had not reached agreement by November 1, Cambridge formally disbanded the organization.

Aside from the election scandal, the article also described Chang Feifan, the former president, as being much like a Chinese government official stationed in Cambridge. Chang’s bio indicated that in less than two years she had hosted Chinese government officials who visited the campus and provided trainings for close to 1,000 senior government officials and senior managers from companies in China. Chang managed the foreign projects at Cambridge and was also responsible for several Chinese government sponsored projects in China. An online search suggested that a number of China’s official news agencies, including People’s Daily and China Review News had covered the activities that the Cambridge Chinese student organization hosted. An article from Beijing Youth Newspaper also reported that the Chinese consulate sponsors the annual Chinese New Years party that the Cambridge Chinese student organization hosts each year.

Source: China Review News, December 2, 2011
http://gb.chinareviewnews.com/doc/1019/2/4/2/101924242.html?coluid=7&kindid=0&docid=101924242&mdate=1202092659