On September 3rd, a 86-page PDF document circulating online brought public attention to Wuhan University’s College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences professors Fu Lei and Zeng Mengqi. Two girls claiming to be Fu Lei’s daughters made detailed accusations in the material against Zeng Mengqi, alleging involvement in “power-for-sex exchanges,” academic fraud, and accusations of destroying their parents’ marriage over a decade. This incident quickly sparked public outcry, leading to multiple related topics trending on Weibo. Wuhan University issued a statement the same day, confirming that the school’s disciplinary committee had officially accepted the report and initiated an investigation.
According to the report, the document’s publishers are two girls aged 20 and 15, whose parents are both professors at Wuhan University. The material states that Mengqi started an inappropriate relationship with married mentor Fu Lei during her doctoral studies in 2016.
The report listed various details, including the use of “couple WeChat avatars” by the two, inserting joint photos in school press releases without authorization, and Mengqi participating in receptions during Lei’s official trips under a family-like capacity. The material also mentioned Lei moving out of his household after the breakdown of his marriage, leaving his wife to handle the mortgage and raise their two daughters alone.
In addition to personal ethics concerns, the report raised more severe academic and managerial issues, accusing Mengqi and Lei of misappropriating students’ research achievements, disputes over authorship in academic papers, improper use of research funds, as well as interfering in personnel appointments and enrollment affairs at the college.
In response to the matter, China Newsweek contacted Wuhan University’s College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences on September 3rd. Staff members stated that the official handling of the situation would be announced through official channels after understanding the details. The Publicity Department of the Wuhan University Party Committee responded that specific details would need verification from the relevant authorities.
In the evening of September 3rd, Wuhan University officially released a situation report, acknowledging the online report concerning a faculty member named Zeng in the College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences. The university stated they were actively accelerating the investigation. The report highlighted that the whistleblower had submitted materials to the disciplinary committee on August 19th, which had been officially acknowledged, and the whistleblower notified. The university emphasized that any verified issues would not be tolerated and that investigation results would be promptly made public.
Public records show that Fu Lei, born in 1979, is currently a professor and doctoral supervisor at Wuhan University’s College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences, focusing on research in graphene and other two-dimensional materials. He joined Wuhan University in 2011 and has held positions such as Minister of Human Resources and Minister of the Party Committee’s Teachers’ Office.
Zeng Mengqi, born in 1991, studied at the College of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences at Wuhan University from 2009 to 2013 for her undergraduate degree, pursued her doctoral degree at the same college from 2013 to 2018, conducting research on carbon nanomaterials under Fu Lei’s guidance from 2015 to 2018. After graduating with a Ph.D. in July 2018, she remained at the university as a faculty member, initially serving as an associate researcher; in 2020, at the young age of 29, she was promoted to a full professor and doctoral supervisor, and selected for the national high-level talent program’s youth project.
The two have maintained close scientific research collaboration over the years. According to Wuhan University News Network, in 2020, Fu Lei’s team published a paper in the prestigious journal “Nature Materials,” with Zeng Mengqi as a co-first author; in 2023, they co-authored research in “Advanced Materials” as corresponding authors.