Chinese university sacks professor after social media accusation of sexual harassment

A top Chinese university has fired a professor, a day after a graduate student accused him of sexual harassment on social media in a rare public allegation and posted recordings as evidence, drawing widespread support.

The woman, who identified herself as Wang Di, said she is studying in a doctoral programme at Renmin University of China’s school of liberal arts. She posted a 59-minute video on Sunday on the Weibo social media platform in which she said her supervisor, an ex-vice dean and former Communist party representative at the university in Beijing, physically and verbally abused her.

She also said that for more than two years after she rejected him, he assigned her many tasks, scolded her and threatened that she would not graduate. She also posted audio clips that she said were evidence of the harassment. In one, a man can be heard trying to kiss a woman, who keeps saying: “No, no, teacher.”

“At this moment, I can no longer endure it and have nowhere to retreat, so I am speaking out,” she wrote. She demanded that the professor be punished and a new supervisor be appointed for her. She wore a mask in the video but held up an identification card.

Her post drew 2.2m likes as of Monday evening, with many users leaving comments in support of the student.

Renmin University said on Monday that, after an investigation, it had concluded the complaints against the professor were true. In addition to sacking him, it also revoked his party membership and reported the incident to authorities in accordance with the law, it said in a statement on Weibo.

It said the academic had “seriously betrayed the original mission of teaching and educating” and that his acts violated party discipline and university rules.

The professor did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

After the university announced its decision, the woman’s post on Weibo disappeared.

In China, public accusations of sexual harassment have become rare in recent years, following an increase during a brief #MeToo movement that was swiftly snuffed out by the government. The ruling Communist party views powerful social movements as a potential threat to stability and its hold on power.

In June, a Chinese journalist who promoted women’s rights as part of the #MeToo movement was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of incitement to subvert state authority, according to her supporters.

In one of the most high-profile cases, the former Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai disappeared from public view after accusing former high-level official Zhang Gaoli of sexual assault in 2021. Her accusation was quickly scrubbed from the internet and discussion of it remains heavily censored.