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Why China’s Ivy League Universities Are Mad at Each Other

As high school graduates are applying for university, an online feud between China’s ivy league schools has gone viral. It turns out that China’s universities will go to extremes to enroll the best students of the country.

Manya Koetse

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As high school graduates are applying for university, an online feud between China’s ivy league schools has gone viral. It turns out that China’s universities will go to extremes to enroll the best students of the country.

Trending on   Sina Weibo this week is an online feud between China’s top universities Peking and Tsinghua University. It appears that China’s higher education institutions will go to extremes to get the top scorers of the national College Entrance Examinations in their school. Netizens wonder if it is okay for them to persuade students to register at their university through money (topic: “Should Colleges Buy Top Scorers of the College Entrance Examination?”).

In the past few days, Chinese high school graduates have been busy handling their applications for college, as the scores and results of the College Entrance Examination were released earlier this month. While the students are busy looking for the right university, the universities are also busy looking for the top students. Two Chinese universities have taken their fierce competition online. The Admission Office of Peking University in Sichuan and Tsinghua University blame each other on Weibo for buying the top scorers. Tsinghua University claimed on its Weibo account that Peking University (PKU) was buying students. PKU turned tables and pointed the finger at Tsinghua. The feud went viral on China’s social media.

Many netizens cannot believe that the top two universities in China would pay students to enroll because of their good grades. But the practice of recruiting top students is actually quite common in China, where most colleges and university have a ‘recruitment group’ that is specifically focused on getting the best students to join their institute. They are ready to fight off other universities to get more top scorers enrolled by offering them scholarships, better majors, or even give them bonuses.

Under the contemporary Chinese education system, the College Entrance Examination is the most common way to enter a college or university. The social status of an educational institute is related to the number of excellent examinees (top scorers) it recruits. That is why the majority of colleges in China will set up Admission Offices in every province, in order to get the best examinees from all over the country.

Recruitment is just one step within China’s higher education system. It reveals a problem that is at the core of the system; namely that in the present Chinese education system, it is all about the grades – not about the cultivation and motivation of students.

The problem is twofold. By solely focusing on grades, only top-scoring students will be praised as the best. And because universities get measured by the amount of top-scorers that attend them, only those will be listed as the best universities.

China’s Ministry of Education has openly criticized both universities for their conduct. The comments from both Tsinghua and Peking University have now been deleted from Weibo.

Sources:

http://edu.sina.com.cn/gaokao/2015-06-28/1342475443.shtml

http://edu.sina.com.cn/gaokao/2015-06-29/0743475446.shtml

Manya Koetse is the founder and editor-in-chief of whatsonweibo.com. She is a writer, public speaker, and researcher (Sinologist, MPhil) on social trends, digital developments, and new media in an ever-changing China, with a focus on Chinese society, pop culture, and gender issues. She shares her love for hotpot on hotpotambassador.com. Contact at manya@whatsonweibo.com, or follow on Twitter.

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China Brands, Marketing & Consumers

Tsingtao Brewery ‘Pee-Gate’: Factory Worker Caught Urinating in Raw Material Warehouse

The pee incident, that occurred at a subsidiary Tsingtao Beer factory, has caused concerns among consumers.

Manya Koetse

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A video that has circulated on Chinese social media since October 19 shows how an alleged worker at a Tsingtao Beer factory climbs over a wall at the raw material production site and starts to urinate.

The incident reportedly occurred at the Tsingtao Beer Factory No. 3, a subsidiary of the Tsingtao Brewing Company, located in Qingdao, Shandong.

After the video went viral, the Tsingtao Brewery Company issued a statement that they took the incident very seriously and immediately report it to the authorities, who have started an investigation into the case. Meanwhile, the specific batch in production has been halted and shut off.

The incident has caused concern among consumers, and some commenters on social media wonder if this was the first time something like this has happened. “How do we know this hasn’t happened many times before?”

Others speculate about what might have motivated the man to urinate at the production site. There are those who believe that the man is part of an undercover operation orchestrated by a rivaling company, aimed at discrediting Tsingtao. It’s even suggested that there were two ‘moles’ leaking in this incident: one doing the urinating, and the other doing the video ‘leak.’

Meanwhile, there are voices who are critical of Tsingtao, suggesting that the renowned beer brand has not effectively addressed the ‘pee gate’ scandal. It remains uncertain how this incident will impact the brand, but some netizens are already expressing reservations about ordering a Tsingtao beer as a result.

But there are also those who joke about the “pissing incident,” wondering if Tsingtao Beer might soon launch a special “urine flavored beer.”

By Manya Koetse

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Featured photo by Jay Ang (link).

Spotted a mistake or want to add something? Please let us know in comments below or email us. First-time commenters, please be patient – we will have to manually approve your comment before it appears.

©2023 Whatsonweibo. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce our content without permission – you can contact us at info@whatsonweibo.com.

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China Local News

Streamed Without Realizing: Chinese Village Cadres Suspended after Sex Scene Video Leaks Online

“Village cadres are so hard-working. Besides conducting conferences, they also do live-streaming!”

Manya Koetse

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Two cadres working in Weicheng District in Shandong Province were suspended this week after an “inappropriate video” that showed them engaging in sexual acts started circulating on Chinese social media.

The two got a bit too cozy together in a meeting room, and the moment allegedly was unknowingly caught on camera after a secretary did not turn the camera off after a video conference.

On October 6, Phoenix News (@凤凰网) reported that the subdistrict office in question denied that such an incident took place in their jurisdiction.

The local Discipline Inspection Commission, however, confirmed that the incident did take place and that the case was under investigation, although they would not confirm which positions the two cadres held. Online, it was claimed that they are a thirty-something male secretary in and a fifty-something female director.

Some Chinese media sources noted that the video in question seems to have been recorded from a security camera system screen, raising questions about whether the two had forgotten about the security cameras, or if they actually forgot to turn off a conference call camera, or if the incident was captured by both the security cameras and the webcam.

On Weibo and other Chinese social media, the incident has caused some banter among netizens.

“At least our Party comrades are now addressing their needs internally without causing harm to society – that could be considered a form of progress,” one popular comment said.

“It’s not bad, it’s just bad that they forgot to turn the webcam off,” others replied.

“Ah, so this is officially what officials do?” others wondered.

“Village cadres are so hard-working. Besides conducting conferences, they also do livestreaming!”

By now, it’s been confirmed by a staff member at the Wangliu St. Office in Weifang that the two individuals involved, both village cadres, have been suspended. They are currently under investigation by the Disciplinary Inspection Committee. By early Saturday, a related hashtag had garnered over 200 million views on Weibo (#两干部流出不雅视频被停职#).

By Manya Koetse

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