LAST YEAR, Wang Nana discovered that although she had been admitted by Zhoukou Vocation and Technology College in Henan province, Central China, in 2003, an imposter had taken her place. After graduating the imposter became a teacher. The incident is under investigation. Beijing Youth Daily on Monday commented:

It is clearly not enough for the investigation into this case to be conducted only by the college. Since it concerns identity theft, government departments and the judiciary should be involved.

For someone to impersonate another person in this way involves more than one person. It must have involved government connections or social contacts to succeed.

It has not yet been revealed whether one or both of the imposter's parents held an official position or is a powerful person locally. But the comment by the arrogant imposter that "even though the real Wang Nana was enrolled, she wouldn't get a teaching job because of her lack of resources", suggests a background that helped her get away with the fraud for so long.

If the children of the powerful and rich claim all the education resources, the fate of millions of others will be compromised.

Social mobility through education offers hope for a better future for many. Wang Nana studied desperately hard with the help of the family, hoping to change her fate. If her identity had not been stolen, she would have lived a better life. This is unforgivable. A thorough criminal investigation needs to be conducted to punish all those involved.