We write to express dismay about the decision of Durham 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ this week to shut its East 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ department.

Staff were formally told about the proposal only six days before it was due to be presented to the senate and at a time when senior members of staff were elsewhere in the UK on examining duties. The university says that the department is expensive, that UK demand for East 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ studies degrees is low, and that the quality of research output is unsatisfactory.

In fact, the financial authorities at Durham have admitted that their original figures on the department's contribution to central funds were inaccurate and that the true amount matches the social science average.

Student demand for East 51¹ú²úÊÓƵn subjects is buoyant, and the department's score in the last research assessment exercise, dismissed as a "mere" 4, is equal to that of 11 other departments.

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ

Beyond these concerns, it is the short-sightedness of the measure that boggles the mind. Leaving alone the issue of whether a university should drop from its remit the study of the languages, cultures and societies of more than a fifth of humankind, the most important economic developments of the past 50 years have occurred in East 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ.

It was precisely because of the importance of the region to the UK's future that the British government decided that East 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ studies needed urgent strengthening. As a result, the Higher Education Funding Council for England made special funding available to established centres for MPhil courses. Durham was one beneficiary. That funding was made available on the explicit understanding that universities would assume responsibility for the continuation of these programmes. Durham will have failed in its commitment to Hefce.

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ

There are, in short, very serious doubts about the wisdom of Durham's actions and the fairness with which it is seeking to implement them.

Hans van de Ven and Dennis Twitchett on behalf of 29 concerned academics:

Dr Robert Barnett

Columbia 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Lecturer in Modern Tibetan Studies, East 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ Institute,

Prof. Christopher Bayly

Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Faculty of History

Dr Robert Bickers

Bristol 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Senior Lecturer and Vice-Chair (Research), Department of History

Dr Christopher Cullen

Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Director, Needham Research Institute

Dr Susan Daruvala

Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Lecturer in Chinese Studies

Dr Philip Denwood

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of London
Reader in Tibetan Studies, SOAS

Dr Richard Louis Edmonds

King's College London
Senior Lecturer in Geography

Dr David Faure

Oxford 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Lecturer in Chinese History

Dr Bernard Fuehrer

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of London
Head of Chinese Section, East 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ Department, SOAS

Prof. Richard Gombrich

Oxford 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Boden Prof. of Sanskrit

Dr Margaret Hillenbrand

Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Lecturer in Chinese Literature

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ

Mr. David Helliwell

Oxford 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Librarian Chinese Collection, Bodleian Library

Prof. Michel Hockx

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of London
Prof. of Chinese Literature, SOAS

Dr Eivind Kahrs

Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Senior Lecturer in Indian Studies

Prof. Peter Kornicki

Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Prof. of Japanese Bibliography

Dr A. Lo

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of London
Senior Lecturer in Chinese, SOAS

Dr Jianbo Lou

Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Lecturer in Chinese Law

Dr Shane McCausland

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of London
Lecturer in Chinese Art & Undergraduate Tutor, Dept of Art and Archaeology, SOAS

Dr Tommy McLellan

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Edinburgh
Lecturer in Chinese

Prof. David McMullen

Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Prof. of Chinese

Dr Rana Mitter

Oxford 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Lecturer in Chinese History and Politics

Lady Patricia Mirrlees

Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
East 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ Institute

Dr Lianyi Song

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of London
Lecturer in Chinese, SOAS

Dr Roel Sterckx

Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Lecturer in Chinese Studies

Dr John Swenson-Wright

Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Lecturer in Japanese International Relations; Director, Korea Centre

Prof. (emeritus) Dennis Twitchett

Princeton 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ and Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ

Dr Hans van de Ven

Cambridge 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Reader in Modern Chinese History

Prof. Paul Williams

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ of Bristol
Prof. of Indian and Tibetan Philosophy

51¹ú²úÊÓƵ

Dr Boping Yuan

Cambrdige 51¹ú²úÊÓƵ
Lecturer in Chinese Studies