Dalian Polytechnic University in China has expelled a female student for having a romantic relationship with a Ukrainian e-sports player, saying her behavior “harmed national dignity”.
The New York Times writes about this.
The university released the studentʼs full name and said the incident, which occurred on December 16, violated the universityʼs rules on "civic morality". The regulation states: "Those who have inappropriate contacts with foreigners and harm the national dignity and reputation of the university will be reprimanded or face more severe disciplinary action, depending on the circumstances".
Chinese social media users quickly linked this to videos posted that day by Ukrainian professional video gamer Danylo Teslenko, nicknamed Zeus. The e-sportsman, who was visiting Shanghai for the tournament, posted a video of himself and the Chinese woman on his Telegram channel, which currently has about 43 000 subscribers.
He has since deleted the videos. Screenshots and recordings still circulating online show the two of them, apparently in a hotel room. The woman appears to be aware that she is being filmed, but the footage does not show any overtly sexual behavior.
When asked, Teslenko said he deleted the videos when he realized they were being shared on Chinese social media.
"I realized that these clips, while not intimate in nature, were too personal and inappropriate for public sharing. It was my mistake, and I sincerely apologize for it," he wrote.
The universityʼs statement sparked heated debate in China. Some commentators praised the decision, saying that Chinese people, especially women, are too infatuated with foreigners. Others said the expulsion was sexist and paternalistic. It was compared to cases where a student convicted of rape was only suspended by the university on probation, and a male professor who was allowed to continue teaching after sexually harassing female students.
Some also mentioned that Chinese men who post on social media about finding Caucasian wives are often hailed as national heroes and models of courage.
“If anyone really undermined national dignity in this case, it was not the woman whose privacy rights were violated, but the online viewers who wildly humiliated an ordinary woman under the banner of so-called justice, and the educational institution that used outdated moral precepts,” wrote Peking University law professor Zhao Hong in his column.
Some official media outlets have also weighed in on the woman’s defense. The Global Times, a tabloid controlled by China’s ruling Communist Party, published a commentary saying that “problem students” should be “guided to realize their mistakes”, but in private.
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