‘Overly harsh’: Backlash after Chinese university expels female student over alleged liaison with Ukrainian gamer

DALIAN: A university student in China has been expelled for her suspected liaison with a former Ukrainian professional esports player, igniting fierce debate over whether the punishment was excessive, and whether her privacy was violated by being named and publicly shamed in a school notice and subsequent media coverage.

Dalian Polytechnic University in Liaoning province published the expulsion notice on its website on Jul 8, fully naming the female student, who is surnamed Li.

“Your inappropriate behavior on December 16, 2024, has caused a severe negative impact,” read the notice issued by the school’s student affairs office.

“You are hereby subject to expulsion from our university,” it said. 

In December, former Ukrainian esports player Danylo Teslenko, known as Zeus, claimed in a video to his fan group that he had engaged in a sexual relationship with a Chinese girl, who was allegedly Li, according to China Daily.

The university cited disciplinary regulations stating that students who engage in improper relationships with foreigners that undermine national dignity and the school’s reputation may face a demerit or more serious disciplinary action, depending on the circumstances, as reported by the Global Times.

The university’s announcement went viral on Chinese social media, stirring up fierce debate over Li’s privacy and public shaming. 

The hashtag “disciplined student should not be publicly shamed” has been one of the top trending topics on the Sina Weibo microblogging site, with article shares and threads garnering over 57 million views.

“The decision to expel is overly harsh and unjustified and also raises concerns about abuse of authority,” wrote a Weibo user with the handle tintinwt23 in a comment that drew thousands of likes. 

Others noted how Li’s image still remained online, with her identity “plastered across the internet”. 

Weibo user Ono’s melon field, said that while Li’s actions were wrong, the school’s decision to expel her remained questionable. 

“If having improper relations with a foreigner undermines national dignity and the school’s reputation, what about having improper relations with a Chinese national?”

Others noted how there was far less backlash surrounding the 38-year-old Teslenko and said publicly shaming Li for the incident was akin to being “paraded on the streets”. 

“Anger is being unfairly directed to the wrong person,” a Weibo user said.  

The Paper, a digital newspaper from Shanghai, said that while Li was an “imperfect” victim amid accusations, her behaviour did not warrant expulsion according to official clauses under Chinese higher education law.

Citing China’s Civil Code, which protects citizens’ personal data, Global Times said there was “unlawful disclosure” of Li’s private details.

“The current frenzy of sharing her intimate footage and personal data far exceeds the reasonable consequence she should bear for her misconduct,” it added. 

Some users have also lashed out at mainstream media coverage deemed to be insensitive. 

“(These outlets) talk about privacy, have they cared about the person’s privacy? Let’s not talk about independent outlets, some mainstream outlets have named her openly,” the user, going by the handle xiping junyushi, wrote on Weibo. 

“Now that (these media outlets) have earned enough views and internet traffic, they’re u-turning to talk about privacy, where’s the shame?” 

In posts to his X account on Sunday, Teslenko said that there was “no explicit content or anything disrespectful” in videos he posted with Li.

He clarified that he was not married or in a relationship and refuted speculation about him having a wife or children.

“The only unfortunate thing is that the girl never mentioned she had a boyfriend,” said Teslenko. 

Teslenko said he has since deleted the videos, adding that he “never meant to hurt anyone”. He also appealed to people to “stop the hate” and said everybody makes mistakes - and that he had learnt from his. 

“At the time, it felt like just a normal moment from life. I didn’t (realise how it) could affect someone’s personal situation.” 

“Later I found out the girl was in a relationship and she faced a lot of hate because of it. I truly regret that things turned out this way.”