Reporter : Li Yun / Editor: Li Quan / Publisher : New Tang Dynasty Television
Ref : https://www.ntdtv.com/gb/2020/09/05/a102934213.html / Direct translation
Image : Zheng Yongnian, the former director of the East Asian Institute, was accused of sexual harassment by two female employees. (Composite picture)
Zheng Yongnian, the former director of the East Asia Institute, one of Xi Jinping’s nine "Economy National Teachers", was accused of sexual harassment by two female employees. There are reports that Zheng was severely warned by the police and is currently under investigation, but the results have not yet been released. After the incident, Zheng has resigned from the East Asian Institute.
On September 5, Lianhe Zaobao reported that the National University of Singapore confirmed that Zheng Yongnian was involved in two alleged indecent incidents. In one of the cases, Zheng Yongnian was severely warned by the police, and the police indicated that they would not take further action after investigation and that case was thus closed.
In response to related enquiries on September 4, a NUS spokesperson said that the university was aware of two incidents involving Zheng Yongnian. Among them, the police severely warned him that Zheng Yongnian was undergoing an internal investigation by the National University. The results of the investigation have not yet been released.
The police gave Zheng Yongnian a serious warning
The first was a female staff member of the Institute of East Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore who tweeted last year that she was sexually harassed by Zheng Yongnian, the then director, in May 2018.
The female employee told the media that she reported that Zheng Yongnian was warned by the Institute that she was constantly subjected to bullying and attacks. Sexual harassment has not stopped in the past 10 years, but the management shielded Zheng Yongnian. She also said that the management of the institute seemed to bully the whistleblower and then fired.
A police spokesperson confirmed on September 3 that on May 13, 2019, he received a report of Zheng Yongnian’s assault on a woman on May 30, 2018. After investigating, the police consulted the General Prosecutor's Office and gave Zheng Yongnian a serious warning on April 23 this year.
Female staff report to police accusing Zheng Yongnian of sexual harassment
In the second case, a female staff member of the school called the police, accusing Zheng Yongnian of assaulting her in 2012, but the female staff member did not complain to the university. After investigation, the police indicated that no further action would be taken. The case was closed. The staff member had recently expired and left the East Asian Institute.
On September 4, the female employee replied to the media via email that she left the East Asian Institute where she had worked for 10 years in July this year. She only recently learned that she was not the only victim, so she called the police in May this year.
She said that since 2017, she has been complaining to the institute's management, but no one paid attention to it. She did not hear whether the institute had taken any action until the contract expired.
Zheng Yongnian has resigned
After the sexual harassment scandal broke, Zheng Yongnian has resigned from the East Asian Institute.
At night of September 4, Zheng Yongnian issued a statement through the representative lawyer Xu Tingfang of the Harry Elias Partnership, stating that Zheng Yongnian's resignation had nothing to do with related allegations and complaints.
The statement also said that Zheng Yongnian denied all allegations of sexual harassment and stated that the Singapore Police Force had issued a warning to Zheng. Zheng is cooperating with the National University's investigation work.
After the scandal was exposed, a spokesperson for the National University of China stated that the university will not tolerate any form of related misconduct. If staff have allegations in this regard, internal investigations will be given priority. The university also pays special attention to the staff who are affected (harmed) to protect their well-being in difficult times. Any harassment or bullying cannot be tolerated.
The spokesman also said that Zheng Yongnian had resigned from the Institute of East Asia and NUS to join an overseas university. He was granted a vacation until the expiration of his contract in September.
Zheng Yongnian is Xi Jinping's "national teacher"
Zheng Yongnian, 58, is a native of Yuyao County, Zhejiang Province. He is currently the Dean of the Global and Contemporary China Advanced Institute of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen). In 1997, he joined the East Asian Institute as a researcher and was promoted to the director in 2008. After resigning in May 2019, he still served as a professor at the Institute of East Asia, and has resigned after the scandal was exposed.
Zheng Yongnian is regarded as one of Xi Jinping's "national economic teachers". On August 24, Zheng attended the symposium of economists held by Xi Jinping in his own name. The nine economists who attended the meeting were exposed for the first time. The outside world called them Xi’s "national economic teachers".
Zeng Zhichao, deputy secretary-general of the Taiwan Chinese Economic and Financial Association, once told Free Asia that Zheng Yongnian had personally experienced the 1989 pro-democracy movement when he was studying at Peking University. Later, he obtained a doctorate from Princeton University in the United States. In recent years, Zheng Yongnian has turned to support the CCP’s development values and is regarded as a figure on the New Left.
Zeng Zhichao analyzed that Zheng Yongnian still has a role abroad. From the perspective of the Communist Party, the CCP hopes that it is not only Chinese economists who come up with suggestions, but also scholars from other countries. The most controversial incident for Zheng Yongnian was that he mentioned the "water cut" in Hong Kong last year. He still looked at the problem from the official point of view of the Chinese Communist Party.
During Hong Kong’s "anti-sent-China" protests last year, the Chinese Communist Party media quoted Zheng Yongnian as saying that Hong Kong people can’t succeed in climate change. They only need to threaten to cut water to end the chaos, which caused a backlash in public opinion.
Zheng Yongnian also described "universal value" as an aggressive political slogan. Zeng Zhichao said that Zheng Yongnian justified what the Communist Party did and mixed communism with the market system. The theory was basically based on the Western development model, but the increased control of policies was actually consistent with the thinking of current leaders.
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