A professor was removed from his post at China's prestigious Tsinghua University in March for faking academic achievement and work experience.

China's Ministry of Education confirmed this on Monday and Wang Xuming, the ministry's spokesman, said: "According to China's law on higher education, colleges and universities are empowered to employ and discharge their own personnel."

In November 2005, Fang Zhouzi, who is known for exposing academic scandal in China, claimed that professor Liu Hui of the Tsinghua University had listed a paper by a U.S.-based professor with a similar name as "Liu H." in his resume when he applied for a job in the university's college of medicine.

Fang also questioned the validity of Liu's claimed experience as a director of a research center under a U.S.-based medical school between 1999 and 2004, saying though Liu had worked in a laboratory in the United States, he was not a leader of any kind.

Liu, who got the job in June 2004, admitted the paper was not his own, but blamed a misprint by the library's data retrieval system for the mistake.

After further investigation, the university authorities decided to sack 47-year-old Liu on March 10, according to the university's two relevant regulations on academic fraud and staff management.

The Ministry of Education has decided to enhance academic discipline by setting up a special commission to monitor academic fraud and plagiarism in the near future. There is, however, no start date for its establishment.

Source: Xinhua