‘Huawei does not know her’: Chinese professor accused of holding a fake degree and claiming to be ‘military adviser’ with tech giant
- Peking University professor Chen Chunhua faces questions after members of the public fact-checked her qualifications and found one of her degrees is from a fake European university
- Earlier this month, tech giant Huawei issued a statement refuting Chen’s claimed links with the company and its founder Ren Zhengfei
A professor from China’s leading university who allegedly pretended to be a “military adviser” for tech firm Huawei and has a degree from a fake university in Europe has reignited public debate about academic integrity.
Peking University professor Chen Chunhua is facing questions over her educational background after members of the public fact-checked her claimed qualifications and found her doctoral degree was issued by an unlicensed university two decades ago.
According to her professional biography, the 58-year-old academic obtained a doctorate of business administration (DBA) from the European University of Ireland in 2001. The organisation has no website and isn’t included in the 25 legitimate Irish universities the Chinese education ministry acknowledges.
According to a report by The Irish Times in 2011, the self-claimed “university” operated without official approval from a Dublin address but had no office.
After obtaining her doctoral degree, Chen went on to do postdoctoral research at Nanjing University in 2005, according to her bio. For four consecutive years from 2015 to 2018, she was included in Fortune’s China’s 25 Most Influential Businesswomen Leaders list.
Chen is currently the dean of Beijing International MBA (BiMBA) Business School at Peking University, a professor and doctoral supervisor at the School of Business Administration of the South China University of Technology, and is also a visiting professor at the National University of Singapore Business School.
Repeated calls to Peking University and Chen’s office number went unanswered on Friday.