Recently, a dramatic case of fraternal dispute in Beijing has sparked heated discussions on social media. The case involves a pair of identical twin brothers who ended up in court over a property purchase under borrowed names, uncovering a long-hidden college entrance exam substitution incident that led to the older brother losing his high education credentials and Beijing household registration. The legal battle has been going on for nearly a decade with no resolution in sight. This topic has trended on Weibo’s hot search list.
According to reports from “Lightning News,” “Strong Wind News,” “Luoyang Net,” “Xiaoxiang Morning News,” and court judgments, in December 2012, there was a dispute between the brothers, Tang Xiangdong (alias) and Tang Xiangxi (alias), over a property in Beijing’s Xicheng District.
The court found that at that time, Tang Xiangdong did not have a Beijing household registration. In order to buy a property in Beijing, he used his brother Tang Xiangxi’s household registration quota. The total price of the house was 2.85 million yuan, with an initial payment of 1.12 million yuan paid by their mother, and the monthly installments were to be covered by the older brother. They verbally agreed to the arrangement of “borrowing names to buy a house,” but did not sign a written agreement.
In August 2013, Tang Xiangdong successfully obtained Beijing household registration through a post-doctoral policy. He repeatedly requested his brother Tang Xiangxi to cooperate in transferring the property, but Tang Xiangxi refused to cooperate.
In April 2017, Tang Xiangdong filed a lawsuit against his brother. Their mother and a real estate agent testified in court, confirming the verbal agreement between the two brothers regarding the property purchase under borrowed names. The first-instance court ruled in favor of Tang Xiangdong’s transfer request.
After losing the lawsuit, the younger brother Tang Xiangxi appealed and reported Tang Xiangdong’s education issues.
Following the 2001 college entrance exam, Tang Xiangdong, who had failed, used the resemblance to his brother’s appearance to directly enroll in Hunan University as Tang Xiangxi.
The replaced Tang Xiangxi re-enrolled under a different name the following year and gained admission to Renmin University of China, obtaining Beijing household registration before his brother, Tang Xiangdong.
At the end of 2017, Tang Xiangxi sent a report to Hunan University, accusing Tang Xiangdong of using his identity to attend undergraduate studies.
Hunan University launched an investigation and discovered that the brothers were twins, both born on October 16, 1983. In the 2001 college entrance exam, the younger brother was admitted to Hunan University while the older brother failed. It was decided by their family to let the older brother use the younger brother’s identity to attend university. With this fraudulently obtained undergraduate degree, the older brother completed a master’s degree at Hunan University, a Ph.D. at Nankai University, followed by a post-doctoral program at Peking University, and obtained Beijing household registration through the post-doctoral policy.
The court ruled that Tang Xiangdong had used his brother’s identity to attend undergraduate studies. In 2018, after confirming the truth, Hunan University revoked his undergraduate degree, followed by the revocation of his master’s and doctoral degrees, as well as the cancellation of his Beijing household registration obtained through the post-doctoral policy.
In January 2018, the brothers signed a settlement agreement: Tang Xiangdong was required to compensate Tang Xiangxi with 3.6 million yuan for the property. On the day of signing the agreement, Tang Xiangdong transferred 1.6 million yuan, with the remaining 2 million yuan documented in a written IOU.
In exchange, Tang Xiangxi withdrew his appeal in the property case and sent a second letter to Hunan University – a letter of retraction, stating that the previous report was untrue and a “moment of revenge after losing the lawsuit.”
However, Tang Xiangdong did not fulfill the 2 million yuan IOU as scheduled.
Tang Xiangxi changed his mind once again. He filed another lawsuit to recover the outstanding 2 million yuan and resumed the education accountability process by reporting to Hunan University.
Currently, the brothers are embroiled in multiple lawsuits over property ownership and education disputes that have dragged on for years.
It is noteworthy that Tang Xiangdong did not accept the revocation of his education by Hunan University and has been in legal battles for seven years. In August 2025, the Higher People’s Court of Hunan Province revoked the original decision of the school and the judgments of the first and second trials, citing “insufficient primary evidence and violations of legal procedures,” and ordered the school to make a new decision.
In November 2025, Hunan University re-revoked Tang Xiangdong’s undergraduate degree for the same reasons. Tang Xiangdong has filed a lawsuit again, which is still pending trial.
After the property case was retried, the final ruling acknowledged the validity of the arrangement for borrowing names to buy the property. However, since Tang Xiangdong’s Beijing household registration had been canceled and the conditions for transferring the property no longer existed, the court ultimately rejected his transfer request.
According to media reports, in an interview, the younger brother even denied that they were twins, insisting he was a year younger than his brother. The older brother maintained they were twins. Due to family reasons, they did not grow up together, and now when discussing each other, it’s filled with accusations and intense disputes.
Currently, Tang Xiangdong has lost his undergraduate, master’s, and doctoral degrees, Beijing household registration has been canceled, and the property ownership dispute remains unresolved; meanwhile, Tang Xiangxi continues to pursue the unpaid 2 million yuan compensation through legal means.
Since the incident came to light, it has sparked discussions among netizens. Many internet users commented, “These twin brothers can never go back to how things were before.” “Substituting for an education placement is a violation, and one will eventually have to face the consequences. It’s a pity that a once good family has come to this.”
Weibo user “Wu Nan” remarked that the elder brother’s progression from using his brother’s identity through obtaining a doctorate seemed like a novel plot, but it turned out to be true. What’s crucial is that after reviewing the events, the elder brother’s actions were not a moment of confusion but a series of intentional mistakes.