Week in Review: April 28, 2016

Australia: Chinese-born Australian Ph.D. Resigns amid Social Media Controversy

Wu Wei, a Chinese-born Australian Ph.D. candidate at the University of Sydney’s business school, resigned on April 18. Students had called for his resignation and in one petition said, “Mr. Wu’s continual disrespect for Chinese International Students through frequent, abusive and xenophobic remarks on social media networks ‘Weibo’ and ‘Wechat' are appalling, shameful and unacceptable.” A number of students translated comments that he had made on Weibo and Wechat, and they posted their English translations here. Oiwan Lam of Global Voices reflected, “On Twitter, Chinese dissidents are raising concerns that the incident, which was a hot topic on Chinese social media, represents an attempt by the Chinese authorities to scare voices of dissent abroad into silence.” Wu Wei is said to have published a photo on Weibo of him burning his Chinese passport after he obtained his Australian citizenship. In another post, he noted that “it is a shame to be Chinese."   Professor Greg Whitwell, the Dean of the University of Sydney Business School, told the Daily Mail Australia that an investigation into the allegations was underway. Wu Wei released an apology and stated, “I would like to sincerely apologise for the inappropriate and disrespectful comments I made on the internet. I will refrain from such remarks in the future. I have also resigned from my employment at the University of Sydney. For those who felt hurt or offended by my online comments, I ask your forgiveness." Chinese dissidents and free speech advocates remain concerned that Wu was targeted for his criticism of China’s government and his political slang.

Canada: Toronto to Get Its Own Free Encrypted Network

Residents in Toronto are about to get a free encrypted, meshnet network of their own. Brennan Doherty describes meshnet networks as “a form of intranet that doesn’t require a central router point. Instead of emitting form a single point, they’re distributed across an entire system of nodes. Accessing one is free—and doesn’t require the services of a telecom." Meshnet is not a new concept; the U.S. military has used it in Afghanistan and in other conflict zones. It is popular and available elsewhere in the world, in cities such as Berlin and Barcelona. There are also a number of subreddits devoted to meshnet, including r/darknetplan and