Professor loses temper on air

By Li Xinran  |   2008-12-20  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A UNIVERSITY official threatened to detain a reporter during an interview about his university's credit card application scandal on Wednesday.

Qiang Jianzhou, the head of the publicity office of Xidian University and also a professor of moral education at the school in Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, was being interviewed by China Radio reporter Yang Chao about the university stealing students' personal information to apply for credit cards, according to the radio station's report.

When Yang asked Qiang whether the school had the right to disclose students' information, the professor replied that it was unnecessary to keep students' information as banks were organizations based on trust.

The credit card scandal was exposed on December 6. Several students in the university found their personal information had been used to apply for credit cards at the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. No student received a credit card and was not notified of the applications.

A further investigation by students found that thousands of students at the university were involved. Their personal information had been leaked without authorization. The university apologized after the scandal was exposed, the report said.

During the interview, Qiang shouted: "I will do something that will shock the whole country. I will occupy Tianya.cn."

When Yang planned to leave Qiang's office, he tried to stop her even threatening to call a security guard to restrain her. The interview was recorded and broadcast by China Radio.