Wednesday, April 9, 2008

NYT Archive 1989: Professor Salary and A Dissident's Release

For a few years pre-1989, people in China's academia had not been too happy about themselves. The reform was going on from the country-side to the cities. Many people were getting rich. But not the scholars and the students who saw themselves as future scholars. New York Times reported on April 9, 1989, that the average salary for a professor was $39.50 a month, far below that of a waitress at an international hotel.

Even Deng Xiaoping acknowledged that: "Our biggest mistake in the last 10 years has been that education has not been developed sufficiently."

Meanwhile, on the same day, a dissident by the name of Yang Jing was released from jail without much fanfare, after completing his 8 year sentence for his involvement in the Beijing Spring movement.

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