Declining morals erode ivory tower

The prestigious Peking University, better known as Beida among Chinese, has started its new school year with a bang, but not quite the kind of bang it would have wanted.

Zou Hengfu, a Harvard-trained economist and former professor of the university, alleged a few weeks ago in a micro blog that Beida dons had preyed on attractive waitresses at the campus restaurant Mengtaoyuan, or Dream of Peach Garden. He added insult to injury by refusing to provide proofs to the university's discipline inspectors who have taken up the matter and vowed to leave no stones unturned to unravel the truth.

But now all eyes are on Zou, because Beida has filed a defamation suit against him after an agonizing but futile wait for him to come forward with evidence. Many people are cheering him on, hoping his claims would trigger a campaign against corruption in Chinese universities, while some skeptics shrug the allegation off as a trick by a disgruntled professor to get public attention and sympathy.