Shi Xuecheng, the abbot of Longquan Temple in Beijing who was suspected of sexually assaulting female disciples and illegally building the temple, has resigned from the chairmanship and directorship of the Buddhist Association of China.At the same time, the association stated that it must earnestly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the Buddhist community and religious believers.
Shi Xuecheng, the abbot of Longquan Temple in Beijing, resigned yesterday as the president of the Buddhist Association of China. Although his alleged sexual assault on female disciples has not yet been confirmed, his resignation makes the reports appear to be groundless.
The third meeting of the Ninth Council of the Buddhist Association of China was held in Beijing yesterday. The meeting accepted the resignation of Xuecheng as the president, executive director, and director of the association, and agreed that the vice president, Yan Jue, would preside over the work of the association temporarily.
When the association announced the above news on its website, it also stated that it is necessary to further enhance the legal awareness and the concept of the rule of law in the Buddhist community, improve and revise the rules and regulations of Buddhist groups, Buddhist activity venues, and Buddhist schools in a timely manner, and earnestly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of the Buddhist community and religious believers..
The meeting also requested the national Buddhist circles to be firm in their determination, persevere in strengthening the Taoist style of study, and resolutely correct unhealthy trends such as weakening beliefs, lax precepts, chasing fame and fortune, laziness and slack, and pursuing luxury.Solemn overall image.
Hong Kong's Sing Tao Daily quoted a Buddhist authority yesterday to report that Xuecheng is currently contemplating behind closed doors in a small courtyard in Fuzhou. He is prohibited from going abroad and did not attend the meeting in Beijing.
Longquan Temple’s long-form reports on the real-name reports of Xuecheng’s suspected sexual abuse of several female monks, the illegal construction of Longquan Temple, and the unknown whereabouts of huge funds were circulated on the Internet on the 1st of this month. Longquan Temple issued a statement denying the allegations that night..The next day, China's State Administration for Religious Affairs announced that it had received materials reporting Xuecheng's issues and had begun investigation and verification work.
Xuecheng was elected as the president of the Buddhist Association in 2015. In March this year, he became a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC National Committee and deputy director of the Ethnic and Religious Committee of the CPPCC National Committee. The administrative level is at the deputy ministerial level.
In an interview with Lianhe Zaobao, Zhuang Deshui, deputy director of Peking University's Clean Government Construction Research Center, pointed out that if the report is true after investigation, Xuecheng is likely to be removed from the CPPCC.
He said: If this is the case, the image of Buddhist monks will be seriously damaged, but it will not affect the credibility of the CPPCC National Committee, because his position in the CPPCC is a professional arrangement. Whoever becomes the chairman of the Buddhist Association will be a member of the Standing Committee of the CPPCC.
Lawyer Zhu Junwei accused of sexual harassment intern issued a statement denying
On the other hand, Zhu Jun, a former famous CCTV host, was reported to have sexually harassed an intern. He issued a statement through his lawyer yesterday denying the allegation, and said that he would be held accountable through legal channels.
The statement pointed out that Zhu Jun has sued the original originator of the rumor to Beijing Haidian District People's Court, and the court formally accepted the case yesterday.
Zhu Jun's move once again aroused the attention of public opinion. It is appropriate to report sexual harassment through the Internet instead of legal channels.
The anti-sexual assault movement #metoo (米兔, also translated me too) has been a whirlwind in China in recent months. Many social status men have been reported on the Internet for sexual assault or harassment. Zhu Jun is one of them.
Liu Yu, an associate professor at the Department of Political Science at the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Tsinghua University, wrote an article last month that the #metoo movement has caused controversy because women should not use the method of making big publicity, but should follow the path of the rule of law.
Yan Lieshan, a former senior editor of the Southern Newspaper Media Group, also expressed his fear when calling for grievances on behalf of Zhang Wen, a media person who was reported for sexual harassment. Would a girl also accuse me, an old man, of sexual harassment or even sexual assault on her online one day?Use big-character posters on the Internet to smear me without evidence and without going to court to ruin my reputation?
Zhu Jingwen, director of the Law and Globalization Research Center of Renmin University of China, pointed out to this newspaper that some victims may prefer to report publicly on the Internet because they are worried about the protection of officials and question the credibility of the government and courts.
However, he believes that as long as conclusive evidence is presented, even if the target of the accusation is a religious leader at the deputy ministerial level, he will definitely be sanctioned.Compared with the major central corruption cases that were handled before, this case is much smaller.
Zhuang Deshui also believes that it is not a long-term solution to create public opinion pressure to protect rights by means of Internet disclosure, because it may be abused by those who intend to hype and accidentally hurt people.He believes that victims can report to the newly established National Supervisory Commission, which will determine whether public officials have life-style problems according to the law through interviews, technical investigations and other means.
(The reporter is the Beijing correspondent of Lianhe Zaobao)
