Opinion writers should not lead people astray

Fang Changchun, an associate professor at the School of Social and Behavioral Sciences, Nanjing University

The public is angry with Liu because, by not meeting or talking with Jiang’s mother, she has all but forgotten that Jiang paid the ultimate price to save her life. If the reports are true, Liu should be strongly condemned as her wrongdoings are opposite to Chinese moral code. But newly-revealed details may tell another side of the story, and it may be wrong to jump to a harsh conclusion.

People may have the right to pass moral judgments, and the desperate mother may have no choice but to win public support by arousing people’s sympathy. But netizens should not resort to cyber violence to disturb Liu and her family’s life. Some netizens have even suggested the court hand down the death penalty to Chen and Liu both, which is ridiculous.

Many commentators enjoy a huge following among netizens, but they should never lead the public astray with their baseless comments or fabricated photos, especially unlawful ideas.

Defense lessons must for students going abroad

Luo Yan, associate professor at the Institute of Education, Tsinghua University

On a different note, the education authorities should design defense training courses, and the security and diplomatic authorities should try and devise a comprehensive risk-control system for Chinese students going abroad for studies so that they, to a certain extent, can defend themselves if attacked.

Many youths studying abroad usually face the pressure of exams and suffer from “identity crisis”, and some of them develop personality disorders and even hurt others. That partly could explain why Chen went to the extreme of attacking Jiang and Liu has fallen silent since then. Parents and schools should pay greater attention to children’s personality traits, because if early signs of personality disorder are ignored, they could lead to grave consequences later.