Although his web site is still blocked in China, Fang Zhouzi is getting more and more publicity and recognition through his books, newspaper columns, and blogs in that country. Most recently, he was voted as one of thirty "People of the Times for China's Education" (中国教育时代人物). The selection was made by internet users and sponsored by the China Education News and three other official sites. Its purpose was to recognize thirty people who had made significant contribution to China's education through the thirty years of reform.
In an ironic twist, Fang Zhouzi's name was listed next to one of his nemeses, the president of the Xian Fangyi College Ding Zuyi. In his blog, Fang Zhouzi commented on such an occurance as "It's so harmony."
Showing posts with label Ding Zuyi (丁祖怡). Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ding Zuyi (丁祖怡). Show all posts
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Xi'an Fanyi: The Lawsuit
Fang Zhouzi's investigation of the Xi'an Fanyi's fraudulent claim of being a Top 10 university in China was first picked up by a reporter named Tang Yong (唐勇). Mr. Tang worked for the Huanqiu (环球时报), a subsidiary of the official newspaper People's Daily (人民日报). He also happened to be at Los Angles at the time. So he got a copy of the October 4, 2004 edition of Los Angles Times and looked over the entire content. Based on that he reported that there was no news about any ranking of China's universities in that paper. Obviously, it had never occurred to him that he needed to check all the advertisements in the paper as well. Similarly, he searched and could not find the "USA Fifty State Higher Education Union" in any database or on Google.
On November 8, 2004, Tang Yong reported his findings on Huanqiu. (Subsequently, Fang Zhouzi accused Tang Yong for plagiarism by using Fang's contents without citation.)
In early December, even the top level authority became aware of this issue. In a news conference, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Education (MOE), Wang Xuming (王旭明), said specifically:
The "official" pronouncement not withstanding, Xi'an Fanyi's President Ding Zuyi sued Tang Yong and a local paper which carried his report in January, 2005. In May, the Chang'an District Court in Xi'an decided that Tang Yong had written his report without learning all the facts and therefore was guilty of libel and defamation. He and his paper were ordered to apologize.
At the same time, Fang Zhouzi, New Thread, and other media received letters from Xi'an Fanyi's lawyers to remove related contents and apologize. In defiance, Fang Zhouzi reiterated the Xi'an Fanyi fraud case in a column published in Beijing Science and Technology (BST) on July 27, 2005. In the article, he cited the MOE Spokesperson that the ranking news and its sponsoring institution are "non-existent" (子虚乌有).
On August 30, 2005, Ding Zuyi and Xi'an Fanyi filed a lawsuit against Fang Zhouzi and BST for defamation. More than a year later, on November 10, 2006, the case was heard in the Chang'an District Court.
The Court apparently ignored Fang Zhouzi's plea that the passage in his article was a direct quote from the MOE Spokesperson and not his own and proceeded the case against Fang. The defendants provided copies of the Los Angles Times, which clearly showed that the "news" in question was a paid advertisement, as well as results from State of California registry showing the registration date of the so-called "USA Fifty State Higher Education Union" and its current defunct status. The court ruled that these evidences inadmissible since they haven't been properly notarized by the Chinese Consulate in the US.
Without any other evidences, however, on November 14, the Court declared that it had verified that on October 4, 2004, Los Angles Times had published a news article on the ranking of "most respected" universities in China. That the defendants did not have sufficient evidence to prove the report was a paid advertisement. Nor could the defendants prove the "non-existence" of the "USA Fifty State Higher Education Union". Therefore the defendants had based their criticisms of Xi'an Fanyi on falsehoods and were guilty of defamation.
The Court decreed that
On October 22, BST published an open apology to Xi'an Fanyi and Ding Zuyi, fulfilling it's part of the court obligation. It was not clear if the paper had paid for the damage fine. Fang Zhouzi, however, continued to choose defiance. He is appealing to the Highest People's Court of the nation.
On November 8, 2004, Tang Yong reported his findings on Huanqiu. (Subsequently, Fang Zhouzi accused Tang Yong for plagiarism by using Fang's contents without citation.)
In early December, even the top level authority became aware of this issue. In a news conference, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Education (MOE), Wang Xuming (王旭明), said specifically:
... As we are aware, the report on Los Angles Times was a paid advertisement. The so-called "USA Fifty State Higher Education Union" does not exist. There was never such an organization. The paper had informed concerned people in China (中方有关人士) that the piece was a paid advertisement, not a news report. If anyone engages distorted propaganda using the Los Angles Times, the Paper will seek legal actions against them.It was not clear whether the MOE Spokesperson based his information on Fang Zhouzi and Tang Yong's reports or had independent sources of their own.
The "official" pronouncement not withstanding, Xi'an Fanyi's President Ding Zuyi sued Tang Yong and a local paper which carried his report in January, 2005. In May, the Chang'an District Court in Xi'an decided that Tang Yong had written his report without learning all the facts and therefore was guilty of libel and defamation. He and his paper were ordered to apologize.
At the same time, Fang Zhouzi, New Thread, and other media received letters from Xi'an Fanyi's lawyers to remove related contents and apologize. In defiance, Fang Zhouzi reiterated the Xi'an Fanyi fraud case in a column published in Beijing Science and Technology (BST) on July 27, 2005. In the article, he cited the MOE Spokesperson that the ranking news and its sponsoring institution are "non-existent" (子虚乌有).
On August 30, 2005, Ding Zuyi and Xi'an Fanyi filed a lawsuit against Fang Zhouzi and BST for defamation. More than a year later, on November 10, 2006, the case was heard in the Chang'an District Court.
The Court apparently ignored Fang Zhouzi's plea that the passage in his article was a direct quote from the MOE Spokesperson and not his own and proceeded the case against Fang. The defendants provided copies of the Los Angles Times, which clearly showed that the "news" in question was a paid advertisement, as well as results from State of California registry showing the registration date of the so-called "USA Fifty State Higher Education Union" and its current defunct status. The court ruled that these evidences inadmissible since they haven't been properly notarized by the Chinese Consulate in the US.
Without any other evidences, however, on November 14, the Court declared that it had verified that on October 4, 2004, Los Angles Times had published a news article on the ranking of "most respected" universities in China. That the defendants did not have sufficient evidence to prove the report was a paid advertisement. Nor could the defendants prove the "non-existence" of the "USA Fifty State Higher Education Union". Therefore the defendants had based their criticisms of Xi'an Fanyi on falsehoods and were guilty of defamation.
The Court decreed that
- Within 10 days, Fang and BST must publish an open apology to Xi'an Fanyi, reviewed by the Court
- Within 10 days, Fang and BST must pay Xi'an Fanyi 150,000RMB ($18,750) for economical damage
- Within 10 days, Fang and BST must pay Ding Zuyi 10,000RMB ($1,250) for psychological damage
On October 22, BST published an open apology to Xi'an Fanyi and Ding Zuyi, fulfilling it's part of the court obligation. It was not clear if the paper had paid for the damage fine. Fang Zhouzi, however, continued to choose defiance. He is appealing to the Highest People's Court of the nation.
Friday, December 14, 2007
Xi'an Fanyi: A "Most Respected" School?
During October, 2004, a small news item appeared in several Chinese newspapers and online media about a ranking of Chinese Universities, done by an American organization. One such piece can still be seen on the web today. Rankings of colleges were just getting popular in China then, so such news wasn't all that interesting by itself. What was interesting, however, is its Top Ten list of universities: while the usual suspects such as Tsinghua and Peking Universities occupied the top 9 spots, the 10-th spot belong to a school by the name "Xi-an Fanyi University". Not many people had ever heard about that school by then.
What's more, the accompanying Top Ten University Presidents list ranked Ding Zuyi, the President of the "Xi-an Fanyi University" in the 2nd spot, right between the Presidents of Peking and Tsinghua universities.
Where did this ranking come from?
The news report said it was from the October 4, 2004 issue of Los Angles Times, which is certainly a reputed source. It also included an original English version, which perhaps inadvertently provided the first hint of something not being right:
Fang Zhouzi thought so. He was in China at the time when he encountered this "news". Without direct access to the Los Angles Times paper itself, he did the next best thing: searching its online archives. He found nothing. In his first report on this case, Fang Zhouzi was careful enough to point out that just because it was not in the online archive was not proving enough that the report was not in the paper. However, based on the English writing itself, he was confident that this news was a piece of forgery done by some Chinese people with sub-par English skills.
Although a self-claimed "university", Xi'an Fanyi University (西安翻译学院) is really a small college specializing in training for foreign language translators and interpretors. Unlike public colleges in China, schools like this one are "private" and charge hefty tuitions from students. They usually compete for the students who had failed to earn admission in the more traditional colleges and had to pay their own ways for a skill education. Not withstanding the successfulness or the lack thereof, such a school would not be qualified to be on anyone's Top 10 list.
After Fang Zhouzi's initial exposure of this "fake news", the school fought back immediately and provided copies of the certificates it had received to prove its authenticity. The two certificates read:
In the meantime, the news of the ranking was still spreading in China and made into mainstream news outlets including the official Xinhua News Agency and Chinese Youth Daily. A copy of the October 4th, 2004 edition of Los Angles Times was made available. The "news" of the ranking was indeed in the paper, not as a report, but as a paid advertisement. It was also found out that the socalled "USA Fifty State Higher Education Union" was registered in the State of California by someone named He Yumin as a company. The company was registered on May 26, 2004, merely 5 days before it delivered the "most respected" certificates. It is quite unlikely that the company had the time to send out 80,000 questionaries and process the 50,000 returns as it had claimed in the news/advertisement.
In December 2004, Fang Zhouzi's supportors in Los Angles visited the address on the registration and found the "USA Fifty State Higher Education Union" is no longer there. It probably never was.
But by now, Ding Zuyi (丁祖怡) had had enough. He decided to sue.
What's more, the accompanying Top Ten University Presidents list ranked Ding Zuyi, the President of the "Xi-an Fanyi University" in the 2nd spot, right between the Presidents of Peking and Tsinghua universities.
Where did this ranking come from?
The news report said it was from the October 4, 2004 issue of Los Angles Times, which is certainly a reputed source. It also included an original English version, which perhaps inadvertently provided the first hint of something not being right:
Ranking of Chinese Universities by USA Fifty State Higher Education UnionThe first list of most respected Chinese universities and their presidents was established by the USA Fifty State Higher Education Union through a survey. 80,000 questionnaires were distributed with 50,000 returned as valid. The event is the first of its kind in China done by international agencies. Noticeably, China's first private university Xi-An Fanyi University in the country's western province of Shaanxi has entered the top 10 list. It is now the biggest private universities in China boasting about 40,000 students in residence.
It's quite obvious that Los Angles Times could not have published something in such awkward English. The name of the institute "USA Fifty State Higher Education Union" also sounded fishy. Could this be another blatant fake?
Fang Zhouzi thought so. He was in China at the time when he encountered this "news". Without direct access to the Los Angles Times paper itself, he did the next best thing: searching its online archives. He found nothing. In his first report on this case, Fang Zhouzi was careful enough to point out that just because it was not in the online archive was not proving enough that the report was not in the paper. However, based on the English writing itself, he was confident that this news was a piece of forgery done by some Chinese people with sub-par English skills.
Although a self-claimed "university", Xi'an Fanyi University (西安翻译学院) is really a small college specializing in training for foreign language translators and interpretors. Unlike public colleges in China, schools like this one are "private" and charge hefty tuitions from students. They usually compete for the students who had failed to earn admission in the more traditional colleges and had to pay their own ways for a skill education. Not withstanding the successfulness or the lack thereof, such a school would not be qualified to be on anyone's Top 10 list.
After Fang Zhouzi's initial exposure of this "fake news", the school fought back immediately and provided copies of the certificates it had received to prove its authenticity. The two certificates read:
and:THE VENERABLE PRESIDENT OF
UNIVERSITY PRIVATE
UNIVERSITY IN CHINA
After a survey of American colleges, Professor Dingzuyi,
the president of Xi-an fanyi university is acknowledged
to be the venerable president of college run by the
local people in China.
It is quite interesting to note that, Xi'an Fanyi University, a school specializing in English skills, could not recognize the many mistakes in English in these certificates alone.CERTIFICATE FOR THE FIRST STUDY-WORTHY
INSTITUTE
PRIVATE UNIVERSITY IN CHINA
After a deliberation of the colleges run by the local
people in China, Xi-an fanyi university is acknowledged
to be the first study-worthy by American Colleges.
In the meantime, the news of the ranking was still spreading in China and made into mainstream news outlets including the official Xinhua News Agency and Chinese Youth Daily. A copy of the October 4th, 2004 edition of Los Angles Times was made available. The "news" of the ranking was indeed in the paper, not as a report, but as a paid advertisement. It was also found out that the socalled "USA Fifty State Higher Education Union" was registered in the State of California by someone named He Yumin as a company. The company was registered on May 26, 2004, merely 5 days before it delivered the "most respected" certificates. It is quite unlikely that the company had the time to send out 80,000 questionaries and process the 50,000 returns as it had claimed in the news/advertisement.
In December 2004, Fang Zhouzi's supportors in Los Angles visited the address on the registration and found the "USA Fifty State Higher Education Union" is no longer there. It probably never was.
But by now, Ding Zuyi (丁祖怡) had had enough. He decided to sue.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
