Regard, then, with sadness the story of He Chuanyang, who, in the examination that leads to university entrance, recorded the highest score in the southwestern Chongqing Municipality. He had more than enough marks to soar into university but Beijing University denied him a place because his parents appear to have lied about his ethnicity in order to get extra points in the national college admission test. Note that He Chuanyang reportedly knew nothing of this. It was his parents who conducted the fiddle. It is He Chuanyang who will suffer.
Liu Mingli, head of the university’s admission office, said, "We checked all the facts [about He’s lying] and therefore decided to turn down his application. We hope he will not make such mistakes again and be an honest person. We’re ready to welcome him in the future."
But it does not appear on the available evidence that He Chuanyang was lying. His parents, yes. He, not.
He Chuanyang, a graduate of Nankai Senior High School, topped Chongqing’s honor roll this year after scoring 659 points in the college admission test. He could have received, but did not get, 20 additional points (which he did not need) if local authorities had not uncovered falsified documents on his ethnicity.
The boy’s mother, Lu Linqiong, held the denial of a place at university was unfair. She said, "It was a mistake we made three years ago — he was only 14 and knew nothing of our decision."
Lu said she and her husband had changed the boy’s ethnicity to the Tujia minority group from the majority Han in July 2006. Ethnic minorities often enjoy preferential treatment in college admission, recruitment to the People’s Liberation Army and sometimes in job hunting.
China Daily reported that He Chuanyang was one of the 31 students involved in the ethnicity cheating scandal.
The cheating scandal has caused Lu, the student’s mother, to be temporarily removed from her post as deputy head of the CPC Wushan County Committee’s organization department. The boy’s father, He Yeda, has also been removed from his post as head of Wushan County’s college admission office.
The couple’s friend, Wan Minqiang, now chairman of the county science commission, was also sacked for helping with the cheating when he was head of the county’s ethnic and religious affairs bureau.
He Chuanyang has stayed out of the public eye since the scandal was revealed, but it is known he has now been turned down by the university in Hong Kong.
HKU said earlier reports that the university had offered an invitation to the top scorer were incorrect.