#MeToo impact: China fires professor

beijing — A professor at a prominent Chinese university has been sacked after a former student’s accusations of sexual harassment went viral.

Beijing’s Beihang University announced the decision to strip Chen Xiaowu of his position as executive vice-director on Thursday after an investigation into accusations against him.

The story exploded into public view in early January, after one of Chen’s former doctoral students, Luo Qianqian posted on China’s Twitter-like Weibo that the professor had tried to pressure her into sex 12 years ago.

Luo, who lives in the US and went on to collect accusations from several other alleged victims, tagged the post #WoYeShi, the Chinese translation of #MeToo, writing that the campaign had inspired her decision to act.

“In my heart, a voice said to me ‘me too’,” she wrote, describing her feelings when she first saw the flood of posts that kicked off the viral movement against sexual harassment.

She was further determined to act when she discovered that Chen had impregnated another student, she told the Chinese newspaper Global Times.

Chen’s “behaviour gravely violated professors’ professional ethics and behavioural norms, and has created a vile social influence”, Beihang University wrote on its official Weibo account.

The #MeToo campaign spread rapidly in October after multiple accusations against Hollywood movie mogul Harvey Weinstein and has since shaken artistic, media and political circles globally. —

Chen Xiaowu’s behaviour gravely violated professors’ professional ethics and behavioural norms, and has created a vile social influence Beihang University