(ECNS) — A Chinese student at Moscow State University appearing in a history class draped in Japan's Rising Sun flag has reportedly been sent back to China, the Global Times reported.
A photo showing the student wearing the flag sparked outrage among netizens and overseas Chinese communities. The Chinese Students and Scholars Association at Lomonosov Moscow State University said in a statement on Saturday that the flag was a symbol of Japanese militarist aggression and that the student's actions did not represent Chinese students at the university.
According to the Global Times, the association submitted a petition on Friday, calling for an investigation and disciplinary action. The university's history department held a meeting on Monday afternoon and said it would announce its decision to expel the student and release its position through official channels.
A Chinese student who attended the meeting told the Global Times that the history department head Lev Sergeyevich Belousov said the shared historical understanding of the fight against fascism must not be violated, adding that China and Russia had fought as allies in World War II.
The student association said it had also reported the incident to the education section of the Chinese Embassy in Russia. It urged students to express their views rationally and avoid physical confrontations.
In an apology video released afterward, the student said he should not have displayed the flag in public, calling his actions wrong and disrespectful to China and its people. "I have failed to live up to the trust placed in me by my country," he said, apologizing to his teachers, classmates, friends and the Chinese people.
The university had not yet publicly released its final disciplinary decision in the information cited by the report.
(By Evelyn)
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