Why it matters: Tsinghua University is an internationally reputable school that draws foreign academics and donors, making Professor Xu’s case a warning sign abroad about the ruling party’s tightening controls on dissent.

Here’s what else is happening

Canada: The country granted asylum to a Filipino woman who in 2013 briefly opened her Hong Kong apartment to Edward Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor who revealed some of the U.S.’s most closely guarded surveillance programs. She and her daughter arrived on Monday, and they are to live in Montreal.

Cardinal Pell: Dozens of prominent news outlets and journalists in Australia have been ordered to answer accusations that they violated a gag order barring coverage of the trial of Cardinal Pell, a former Vatican official who was convicted in December of molesting children. They will appear in court on April 15.

Australia: Two officials from the country’s anti-immigration One Nation party said recordings of them discussing how the party could “own” the Australian Senate and House of Representatives with a $20 million donation from the American gun lobby shouldn’t be taken seriously because they had taken place after “a few drinks.”

Samsung: The South Korean electronics giant warned that it would report disappointing financial results because of slumping prices for chips and LCD screens amid “weakening overall demand.”

Taliban: Five men held at the U.S. detention camp at Guantánamo Bay for 13 years now sit across the negotiating table from their captors in talks over the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan, a twist that underscores the winding, contradictory nature of America’s longest war.