The Shuping Yang commencement speech controversy took place following a commencement speech made by Shuping Yang (simplified Chinese: 杨舒平; traditional Chinese: 楊舒平; pinyin: Yáng Shūpíng), a Chinese undergraduate student graduating from the University of Maryland (UMD), on May 21, 2017. The speech, which praised freedom of speech and democracy, drew the ire of Chinese netizens, state media, as well as the Chinese Students and Scholars Association at the University of Maryland.