Chinese art professor caught kissing students sparks public outrage

An elderly Sichuan university professor photographed hugging and kissing two female students at a restaurant has sparked a debate about sexual harassment at China’s universities.

Associate professor Wang Xiaojian, who taught at the Sichuan Institute of Fine Arts in Chongqing, became the first educator to lose his job after China’s Ministry of Education released new guidelines for universities strictly prohibiting teachers from having intimate relationships with students.

Wang, 60, provoked outrage over the weekend after several photos circulated online of him hugging and kissing two female students, one on the face and the other on the hand, at a restaurant in Chongqing.

“It is indeed scary to see an associate professor, an art critic, failing to act responsibly as a teacher,” Wen Jianghua, a columnist for the Henan Business Daily, wrote on Monday. “Could this be the tip of an iceberg of moral corruption in some colleges?”

On Sunday, the Institute of Fine Arts said the photographs were authentic and suspended Wang, who by the end of last year had already retired from most of his duties. His retirement benefits have also been reduced, the institute said without elaborating further.

“Wang’s behaviour has seriously violated the moral code of educators and has had a severe social impact,” the school said in its statement.