Recently, Chinese academician Zhong Shizhen of the Chinese Academy of Engineering issued a statement, stating that during his centennial birthday banquet, he was approached and harassed by five individuals posing as students who took numerous photos and videos with him without permission. This led him to release a stern statement to defend his rights, sparking discussions among netizens.
On October 11, the office of Chinese Academy of Engineering academician Zhong Shizhen, who is also an advocate for digital medicine, issued a formal statement, alleging that during his centennial birthday celebration, five individuals including Yang Jiong, disguised as students, harassed him by taking a large number of photos and videos, which they later shared on social media and at their workplace.
The statement pointed out that these five individuals attempted to create a false impression of being “distinguished students from prestigious institutions, industry elites, and academic authorities,” disrupting public perception to serve their own illegal interests and purposes. Despite being called out, they refused to apologize for their actions.
In order to prevent them from misleading the public by using these photos and videos in the future, Zhong Shizhen issued a public statement condemning the infringement by the five individuals and reserved the right to hold them legally accountable.
According to public records, Yang Jiong is one of the founders of the Guangzhou Wenzhou Business Association and serves as the Secretary-General of the sub-branch under the association, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Wenzhou Talent Promotion Association, as well as the legal representative of a liver disease research institute and a liver clinic in Guangzhou.
On October 11, Southern Daily reported that on August 24 last year, Zhong Shizhen celebrated his centennial birthday. Students, colleagues, peers, and locals from all over the country gathered at Southern Medical University to celebrate his birthday together.
Upon learning about Zhong Shizhen’s centennial birthday celebration, Yang Jiong and the other five individuals tried to gain access by requesting the accompanying staff members, but were denied entry. Subsequently, they resorted to deception, falsely claiming five sets of celebration attire and memorabilia, persistently taking videos and photos with Zhong Shizhen, and even obstructing his disciples and guests from taking photos with him.
Although Yang Jiong and the others later removed the videos and photos, they insisted they did nothing wrong and refused to apologize, instead threatening legal action. In response, Zhong Shizhen signed a firm statement to protect his rights.
In the wake of this incident, mainland netizens were quick to engage in discussions:
“There are too many fraudulent and deceptive activities in society! It’s just unscrupulous businesses engaging in false advertising.”
“Taking photos with an academician is an attempt to deceive and defraud under the guise of the academician’s reputation. It’s crucial to defend one’s rights and prevent them from deceiving and harming others!”
“There are too many dishonest businessmen who take photos with celebrities and then deceive the public!”
“Is there no bottom line to how people conduct themselves? Will his clinic still have customers?”
Some netizens also questioned if there were underlying factors at play:
“There must be reasons behind this, it’s not as simple as the editor tells it; only the parties involved truly know. Let the public listen and observe.”
“Just investigate how they got into the event, and everything will become clear! Definitely, disciples or family members of the academician assisted them.”
“If you paid for it, it’s considered goodwill and cooperation. If you didn’t pay, then it’s considered malicious intent.”