BEIJING: A teacher at a university in eastern China has been fired and expelled from the Communist Party after he faked his identity to date multiple students.
A statement issued by Liaocheng University Dongchang College in Shandong province on April 13 said the school had launched an investigation after receiving a tip-off letter about one of its teachers, surnamed Wu.
The tip-off letter has gone viral online, China NewsWeek reported.
The school concluded that Wu, who is single, had violated both its disciplinary rules and teachers’ moral standards.
He had also caused a “vicious impact” to society by hiding his identity when dating female students from other institutions.
As a result, the school decided to sack him, revoke his teacher’s qualification certificate as well as expel him from the Communist Party, according to the statement.
It is not disclosed who blew the whistle on Wu. The letter said he had been a teacher in the school’s economics department for the past eight years.
During this period, he forged his name, age, job and family background while dating more than 10 students who were not from his school.
At the beginning of this year, when a young woman got pregnant, Wu forced her to abort it, the tip-off letter revealed.
Wu told the woman that his parents wanted him to find a girlfriend from a privileged family, while his father even threatened him that if the woman did not have an abortion, he would commit suicide.
The letter said Wu used other identities while dating because he was aware that those girlfriends did not fit his parents’ requirements.
He actually expected he might be punished by the school for his behaviour.
“If I am fired, I will go to work in Jinan (the capital of Shandong province), or go abroad,” Wu once told the whistle-blower who wrote the tip-off letter.
Wu’s story has captivated mainland social media.
“I do not understand this punishment. Is a single male teacher banned from dating? Which rules did he breach?” asked one online observer.
Another person said: “I do not see he has done anything wrong. At least he did not take advantage of his position as a teacher to date female students.”
However, other people condemned Wu: “He is a complete liar. He hid his true identity when dating, which means he is not serious about the relationship.”
“As a teacher, he should act as a moral model. His behaviour is disappointing. I support the school’s decision,” said one online observer. - South China Morning Post
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