A photo unrelated to the article [123rf]
A photo unrelated to the article [123rf]

Two sisters in China have caused an uproar after publicly exposing a decade-long affair between their father, a former professor at prestigious Wuhan University, and one of his former doctoral students.

The professor at the center of the allegations is Fu Lei, 47, a former professor at Wuhan University's School of Chemistry and Molecular Sciences who also supervised doctoral students there, Hong Kong outlet the South China Morning Post reported Thursday. Fu currently serves as vice president and a Communist Party Standing Committee member at Anhui University.

According to an 86-page document the sisters circulated, Fu has carried on an affair with Zeng Mengqi, 35, a former doctoral student, since 2016.

The sisters said they discovered the affair in 2018 after noticing the two used profile pictures of "Conan" and "Haibara Ai" — characters from the Japanese anime "Detective Conan."

They also said Zeng contacted Fu even during family vacations and once sent their mother a provocative text message.

Zeng reportedly continued the relationship with Fu even after marrying a university colleague in 2023.

The sisters said they were raised by their mother after their father left home two years ago, adding that their mother lost 15 kilograms while shouldering the mortgage payments alone and raising them by herself.

The sisters also alleged that Fu and Zeng misappropriated university research funds for personal use.

They claimed that while students carried out the core experiments for papers published in major academic journals, including Nature Materials and the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Fu and Zeng listed themselves as first authors.

The sisters further alleged that the two required students to return research funds to designated accounts, then had personal expenses — including taxi fares, meals and living costs — reimbursed under categories such as "materials testing fees" and "conference participation fees."

Zeng earned her doctorate in 2018, became an associate professor at Anhui University in 2020, and was promoted to full professor the following year. She was also selected as a promising talent under a national high-level talent support program.

As the controversy grew following the sisters' allegations, Wuhan University said Sept. 3 that it had received the related tip on Aug. 19 and would launch an investigation. Anhui University, where Fu currently works, also said it had opened its own investigation.

Both Fu and Zeng reportedly remain in their positions for now. Zhou Zhaocheng, a lawyer at Beijing Anjie Law Firm, said the two could be suspended or removed from office if the universities find evidence of professional ethics violations or academic misconduct.


bbo@heraldcorp.com