Chinese university sacks academic over sexual misconduct claims
- Sun Yat-sen University fires associate professor for allegedly sending sex invitations to three women during break in online class
- College says it will investigate the messages, which reportedly could be seen by the students at his lecture
A professor at a prestigious university in southern China has been fired amid claims that he solicited three women – including at least one student – during a 10-minute break in an online class on Monday.
China News Service reported on Friday that Wang Xiaowei, an associate professor at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, was fired by the school on Thursday after he sent the steamy messages via social media site WeChat.
Wang invited them to have sex with him after class not knowing that his private messages could be seen by his students attending his lecture, according to the report.
The report did not identify the three women but said one of them was one of his students and another was a pregnant woman, the report said.
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Wang reportedly did not reply when some of the students messaged him about his accidental exposure. Instead, another teacher contacted them, urging the students not to share the private messages because it could affect their grades, the report said.
Despite the warning, the messages came to light and the university announced on Wednesday that it has set up a team to look into the matter.
“The university has zero tolerance of any conduct that violates our teaching disciplinary and ethical codes,” the university said. “We will not tolerate any one once [the charges] are verified and confirmed.”
The university’s propaganda office could not be reached for comment on Friday. Wang’s information and contact details have been removed from the university’s website.
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Wang is not the first professor in China to lose his job over misconduct allegations.
