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Saturday, July 11, 2015

Tsinghua University Graduates to Now Shout "Actions Speak Louder Than Words" in Beijing

Yesterday I expressed hope to see a video of Tsinghua University graduates shouting "revive the A shares, benefit the people; revive the A shares, benefit the people" tomorrow as required by their school. Sadly, or happily, the event won't occur.

The South China Morning Post reported today today that the slogan was originally submitted by students as a joke. Although an official e-mail notice from the school stated students would be expected to shout the slogan, after news about it broke the school sent another notice stating that the slogan had not been officially approved. Some have suggested that the school had been playing along with the students' joke and was simply caught off guard when the issue became known to the public. Others don't buy that story and believe the school genuinely thought the slogan was a great idea.

In either case, the new slogan is "Actions speak louder than words, shoulder responsibility, be innovative, benefit the people." Presumably this slogan is not intended as a joke. So perhaps when students shout "Actions speak louder than words" they will think of the words in one of my most favorite articles in the Constitution of the People's Republic of China:
Article 35 Citizens of the People’s Republic of China enjoy freedom of speech, of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration.
Congrats to this year's graduates all across China, whatever they may be shouting.

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