A university teacher who made inappropriate comments has been suspended from teaching, East China's Shandong University of Political Science and Law said in a statement on Thursday. The decision came after the teacher sparked a huge outcry on the Chinese internet for making insulting remarks about women.

According to screenshots circulating online, Zhi Qiang, a teacher at the university's law school, said that women are certainly low quality students and that he was displeased with female students that reported to his wife his intimacies with other female students on campus. The remarks were made during a conversation with one of Zhi's friends surnamed Ma on WeChat, a Chinese social media platform.

Also, when Ma repeatedly made exceptionally insulting comments about women, Zhi echoed him.

After the screenshots were uploaded to Chinese Twitter-like platform Sina Weibo, they quickly sparked public concern. Many netizens called on the university to deal with the inappropriate comments by the law teacher as soon as possible.

On Thursday afternoon, the university confirmed on its official Sina Weibo account that the circulating screenshots were true and that Zhi was indeed a teacher at its law school.

"In response to this situation, the university has decided to remove Zhi Qiang from his teaching job and suspend all his teaching activities," the university informed in a statement.

According to the announcement, Zhi was also asked to make a statement of self-criticism on the matter and was disqualified from promotion for the current year.

Regarding the university's handling of Zhi's inappropriate remarks, some netizens believe the punishment is timely and responds to public concerns.

Other netizens, however, pointed out that Zhi's remarks reflected that he was not qualified to be a university teacher and should be subject to more severe punishment, such as immediate expulsion from the institution.

Global Times