Gray area between students and teachers

The stories surfacing in the media portray Wu as a womanizer who coerced his female students into having sex with him. What he dangled in front of them were things essential to them: having their papers published in scholarly journals, recommending them to coveted jobs, arranging meetings with other professors with academic resources, etc.

Some of his students said no to his initial advances. According to one media report, Wu used the word "harassment" when talking about his behavior. "I'll stop harassing you if you can't accept it," Wu allegedly texted a student. "And from now on you'll be among the commonest of students as you so wished." The threat of removing someone from his circle of favorite students seemed enough of a strong-arm tactic to those unwilling to go along for the "swim". (Wu would often invite his target for a swim.)

But one small detail caught my attention: One of his students was annoyed with his amorous advances but did not get mad until she discovered Wu was also approaching other students. That raises many questions. Did her discovery empower her to speak out and defend the other victims? Or had she been receptive to the idea of becoming his mistress but became enraged because she did not want to become one of many mistresses? Did she harbor the dream of marrying him someday? Wu's wife was a student of his when he was much younger.

Some say colleges and universities should make it a strict rule that teacher-student romances be made illegal, or at least labeled as unethical, as sexual harassment is often camouflaged in the gray area of dating. They were displeased with an Oct 9 decree from the Ministry of Education, presumably in response to the Wu case, that states "college teachers must not sexually harass or have indecent relations with their students".

"Indecent" is vague－as customary with the Chinese penchant for fuzzy or flowery language. Even "sexual harassment" is not clearly defined. What if a teacher bestows more attention onto a student who is physically attractive by looking longer her way or chatting with her longer than with other students? Is it a form of harassment if he heaps praise on her achievement using an exaggerated tone?