Former professor's disgrace at dinner

A retired college professor's teaching qualification was canceled yesterday after he admitted sexually harassing two female students while having dinner with them.

Former professor's disgrace at dinner

Wang Xiaojian, who retired from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in southwest China's Chongqing last year but still gave lectures there, was photographed touching the two women and forcing them to kiss him at a restaurant in the city.

A diner who recognized him posted three pictures online, writing that a professor should not be behaving like that.

One photograph appears to show Wang forcing one of the women to raise her head while he tries to touch her breasts as she rejects his advances.

The college issued a statement yesterday saying: "Wang has severely violated the professional ethics of a teacher while causing a negative social impact as well as harm to the college's reputation."

The college said it launched an investigation after the pictures appeared online and found the allegations to be true.

The college has banned Wang from taking part in any educational, scientific research or academic activity and has cut the retirement subsidy it was paying him.

The college said it had "zero tolerance" for such behavior and would be enhancing ethics training among all its teachers.

The college also released a phone number and e-mail account for students to bring to its attention any such activity in the future.

Wang issued a statement yesterday apologizing for the incident, claiming his behavior was the result of too much to drink.

"It was my mistake to act improperly after I was drunk, and I apologize to both the victims and the college. I will ensure that no such thing will ever happen again," Wang said.

Previously, he had denied sexually harassing the women arguing that he was only "communicating" with them.

In an initial response to the online post on Saturday night, Wang had said: "I don't think I have done anything wrong."

He said he was just "talking and coaxing" the students who had asked to "communicate" with him.

"My teaching style is 'talking while coaxing,' and what the photos show was the coaxing part," he said. He admitted he kissed the women but said he was not drunk.

However, there was such a hostile reaction to that explanation online that he then issued yesterday's apology.