The suicide of a doctoral student

Yang Baode 杨宝德, a Ph.D. student at Xi’an Jiaotong University, went missing on December 25, 2017. He was found dead on December 29. An internet user named @hw-欣, who claims to be a relative of Yang, wrote a post (in Chinese) on Weibo in which she says that Yang drowned himself after being mistreated by his school supervisor for many years.

The post says that Yang’s doctoral supervisor, Zhou Yun 周筠, had mistreated him, and quotes from what is apparently a suicide note: “Since I was transferred to my current supervisor, I’ve been living in profound agony every single day.”

Zhou allegedly damaged Yang’s mental health with her constant reprimands, and demanded that he perform all kinds of free labor for her, including cleaning her house, washing her car, playing mahjong with her, and being on call every day until midnight.

Neither the supervisor nor the university have responded yet to the allegations. The article mentioned above is a repost, after the original was censored from Weibo. On January 6, a banner made by Zhou’s parents appeared on the school’s campus — it reads, “Xi’an Jiaotong University, I want my son back,” and “Punish the monstrous supervisor severely, save the next Baode.”

• Sexual harassment and rape
  #MeToo has reached China, but will it have an impact? / Hollywood Reporter
  See The China Project’s coverage of sexual harassment in China, including Xiao Meili’s open letter from today:

China must combat on-campus sexual harassment: an open letter

• Dating apps
  12 Chinese dating apps shut after ‘sexy girl’ chats found to be run by robots / SCMP
• Toilet revolution (?)
  ‘Toilet chiefs’ in, luxury loos out as China’s public bathroom revolution rolls on / SCMP
  “China’s tourism supremo has called for ‘toilet chiefs’ to keep tabs on hygiene at public bathrooms but warned against construction of more ‘five-star’ facilities.’”
• Safety of children
  After a chilling sex abuse scandal, many Chinese seek a new way to protect their children: sex education / LA Times
  Mice ate our CCTV, says kindergarten accused of assault / Sixth Tone
• Weird stuff in the boonies
  A life-size replica of the Titanic is under construction in China’s countryside / NPR
• Bald statement
  Chinese people losing their hair earlier than ever before, research shows / SCMP
  “In poll of 4,000 students, university finds 60 per cent to be suffering from some degree of hair loss.”
• Box office
  The Force is no match for ex-boyfriends in China as Ex-File 3 trumps Last Jedi at the box office  / SCMP
• Olympic sports
  China bans speedskater for positive drug test / Reuters