Chinese professor, 91, donates US$152,640 to university after ‘confrontation’ at the bank
Fang Hanqi wants the money to be used for an education fund, but first he had to convince bank staff that he was genuine
A prominent Chinese journalism history professor has made a 1 million yuan (US$152,640) donation to Renmin University of China – but first he had to convince bank staff that he was genuine.
Fang Hanqi, a 91-year-old honorary professor with the university, wants the money to be used to set up an education fund named after him.
Fang is regarded as one of the top authors on journalism history in China. He made the announcement on Sunday, pledging to use the cash from a lifetime achievement award he was given by his faculty three months ago.
But when he went to the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to transfer the money, his assistant in tow, the teller was cautious about processing the transaction and called over other staff to help.
“The bank was immediately on alert,” according to a social media post by Chen Changfeng, deputy dean of Tsinghua University’s journalism school and a friend of Fang’s assistant.
