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

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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 allegation and posted recordings as evidence, drawing widespread support.

The woman, who identified herself as Wang Di, said she is studying in a doctoral program 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 school 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 which she said were evidence of the harassment. In one, a man could be heard trying to kiss a woman, who kept 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 2.2 million likes as of Monday evening, with many users leaving comments in support of the student.

Renmin University said Monday it concluded that the complaints against the professor, who is also surnamed Wang, were true following an investigation. In addition to firing 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 school rules.

Monday night, Beijing police in Haidian district also issued a statement saying they were investigating the matter, without further detail.

The professor has not responded to a request for comment.

After the university announced its decision, the woman's post on Weibo disappeared. In another post, she expressed her gratitude for the care from her school, saying she was proud of the swift handling and uncompromising attitude.

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

In China, public accusations of sexual harassment have become rare in recent years following an uptick 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, 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.