吃空餉 (chi kongxiang): Freeloading

TV host He Jiong, who used to work at Beijing Foreign Studies University and did not resign when he changed profession, has been publicly criticized for "freeloading" after one of his colleagues posted the information via Sina micro blog. The teacher claimed that He Jiong had not been doing his college work for years, preferring to be in show biz instead. On May 17 Beijing Foreign Studies University announced via micro blog that He had decided to resign and the college respected his choice.

University officials have claimed that He's work at college is campus culture construction and image promotion. They explained that He was kept on the payroll was because the college' development requires talents such as He who has links to abundant social resources.

Such statements reflect distorted ideas of running a college. Colleges are responsible for a country's higher education as well as future development, which should focus on academic research rather than chasing pop stars. Campus culture should not rely on entertainment stars.

If public-funded colleges provide positions to entertainment stars but the stars fail to work for the colleges, it is wasting taxpayers' money. College administrators should reflect on the goal and principle of higher education and avoid such incidents from taking place again.