Unlike most people, I've seen how Chinese students and professors act when they are transplanted from Chinese to American universities. I don't know if what I witnessed is the rule, of course, but what I saw was Chinese students "asskissing" Chinese professors - and these professors appeared to expect such treatment and be put off otherwise.
(A little digging into Chinese history reveals that its bureaucracy was highly educated but lacked checks and balances; fifedoms were created and perpetuated regardless of imperial need or larger realities. So 19th-century Chinese bureaucrats assured the emperor that Westerners' gunboats would be useless against Chinese artillery dating back to the 15th century. I suppose many of China's current schools follow in this tradition.)
So I wonder if what really happened was that the students in China attempted "asskissing" only to have Xia spurn it and tell them he would stick to the "proper" academic conduct that is the norm in America.
On the other hand, I've also seen this "asskissing" conduct by Chinese teachers and professors corrupt and compromise American universities to some extent. So you might want to look at the evaluations of
American students or faculty. I couldn't find student evals, but the faculty at Wellesley was overwhelmingly supportive:
link
