A student at a prestigious Beijing university has accused her Ph.D. supervisor of trying to coerce her into a sexual relationship. Closely following her accusations, Renmin University of China confirmed on Monday that it had fired Wang Guiyuan, who was Party chief and vice-dean of the university’s School of Liberal Arts.

Wang Di, a doctoral candidate at the university, made the accusations via a 58-minute video posted to the YouTube-like platform Bilibili on Sunday.

In the video, she said that her supervisor, Wang Guiyuan, had urged her to form a sexual relationship with him. On one occasion, the professor had forcibly kissed and groped her, Wang Di said.

When she rejected his advances, Wang Guiyuan threatened to use his power as her supervisor to prevent her from graduating, and also took other retaliatory measures against her, she added.

In audio clips included in the video — which Wang Di said were made during a visit to the professor’s office in May 2022 — a man can be heard repeatedly telling Wang Di that he wants a “husband-wife relationship” while she protests. The professor forcibly kissed her and touched her breasts during the encounter, the student said.

The video, which has since been deleted, quickly went viral on Chinese social media. On Monday, the university confirmed that it had dismissed Wang Guiyuan from his posts and expelled him from the Party. It added that it had asked the local education bureau to revoke Wang’s teaching qualifications, and stressed that the university had a “zero-tolerance” attitude toward staff misconduct.

The same day, local police in Beijing’s Haidian District confirmed that they were investigating the accusations against Wang Guiyuan.

The incident has led to a debate about the wider issue of sexual harassment on college campuses, with many questioning whether universities do enough to protect students from becoming targets of abuse.

University professors have been accused of abusing, harassing, and attempting to coerce students on multiple occasions over recent years. Ph.D. candidates are often particularly vulnerable to exploitation by their supervisors due to the power imbalance built into the relationship.

Wang Di said that she herself had become a victim of this dynamic. After she rejected Wang Guiyuan’s sexual advances, the professor assigned her mundane tasks and failed to pay her for her work. When she was unable to complete the work, the professor verbally abused her and threatened to block her graduation, Wang Di said.

China’s education authorities have taken steps to combat such abuse in recent years. In 2020, the Ministry of Education introduced a code of conduct banning postgraduate supervisors from having inappropriate relationships with students. It has also launched campaigns to stamp out sexual harassment in universities and pledged to severely punish perpetrators for offenses that result in “strong public complaints.”

But experts say that more action is needed. Lao Dongyan, a criminal law professor at Beijing’s Tsinghua University, said in a Weibo post on Monday that it was still all too common for universities to play down incidents of sexual harassment as “minor” issues or “men’s inevitable love affairs.”

This lax attitude means that victims are often unwilling to report abuse, Lao said, as they expect the perpetrator to receive little punishment. It would be far better if universities established internal channels enabling students to report abusive behavior by staff privately, Lao added.

“Rather than having to run the risk of suffering additional harm by placing themselves in the public spotlight, we hope that next time victims can receive support within the campus via a ‘regular’ channel,” Lao wrote.

On this occasion, Renmin University of China has received praise for its swift action in dismissing Wang Guiyuan. In a statement, Wang Di said she appreciated the university’s quick and decisive response, and confirmed that she would continue her studies in the future.

(Header image: VCG)