Sex, shame and the ‘national dignity' trap in China
A university expulsion has sparked a national debate over gender, nationalism and the limits of personal freedom in China.
In the past two weeks, Chinese social media has been roiled by a polarising cultural debate over a university's decision to expel a female student for having 'improper relations with a foreigner' and 'damaging national dignity'.
The incident centred on viral videos of a young Chinese woman appearing to be intimate with Ukrainian e-sports player Danylo Teslenko, who posted them in December 2024 on his Telegram channel, which has over 40,000 subscribers.
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