A top Chinese university fires a professor after a student accused him of sexual harassment

HONG KONG (AP) — A top Chinese university fired a professor on Monday, a day after a graduate student accused him of sexual harassment on social media in a rare public accusation and released recordings as evidence that drew widespread support.

The woman, who identified herself as Wang Di, said she was studying in a doctoral program at Renmin University’s School of Humanities. On Sunday, she posted a 59-minute video on social media platform Weibo in which she said her supervisor, a former vice dean and former Communist Party official at the university in Beijing, had physically and verbally abused her.

She also said that for over two years after she was rejected, he gave her a lot of work, verbally abused her, and threatened her that she would not graduate. She also released audio clips that she said were evidence of the harassment. In one of them, a man could be heard trying to kiss a woman, but she kept saying, “No, no, teacher.”

“I can’t take it anymore at this moment and I have no place to turn, so I’m raising my voice,” she wrote. She demanded that the professor be punished and that she be assigned a new supervisor. In the video, she wore a mask but held up an ID card.

Her post had 2.2 million likes by Monday evening and many users left supportive comments for the student.

Renmin University said on Monday that after an investigation it had concluded that the complaints against the professor, whose surname is also Wang, were true. In addition to his dismissal, it had 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 that the academic had “seriously betrayed the original mission of teaching and educating” and that his actions violated party discipline and school rules.

Beijing police in Haidian district also issued a statement on Monday evening saying they were investigating the case, but did not provide further details.

The professor did not respond to a request for comment.

After the university announced its decision, the woman’s post on Weibo disappeared. In another post, she thanked her school for its support and said she was proud of its quick handling and uncompromising stance.

The Associated Press generally does not name people who say they are victims of sexual harassment unless they identify themselves publicly.

In China, public accusations of sexual harassment have become rare in recent years after they flared up again during a brief #MeToo movement that was quickly suppressed 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 campaigned for women’s rights as part of the #MeToo movement was sentenced to five years According to her supporters, she is in prison for inciting subversion of state power.

In one of the most sensational cases, former Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai disappeared from the public eye after accusing former high-ranking official Zhang Gaoli of Sexual harassment in 2021. Her accusation was quickly deleted from the internet and discussion of it remains heavily censored.