Beijing: A professor in East China's ShandongProvince has been fired from his post of political advisor after he was accused of insulting Chairman Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People's Republic of China.
Deng Xiangchao, professor at Shangdong Jianzhu University, was removed as a member of the Standing Committee of Shandong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
The government of East China's Shandong Province announced on Thursday they had also dismissed Deng as counsellor of the provincial government, state-run Global Times reported.
The provincial government said it will no longer employ Deng as a counsellor due to "relevant regulations," but did not give specific reasons.
Deng was accused of insulting Mao (1893-1976) on Sina Weibo, China's twitter-like microblogging service, on the eve of Mao's 123rd birth anniversary, which was celebrated on December 26.
The daily did not elaborate on his "offending" comments. The legacy left by Mao, founder of the ruling Communist Part of China (CPC) has come under cloud after his death as the party has shed hardline Communism advocated by him and violent purges during the decade-long Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and opted for wide spread economic reforms, registering fastest development for over two decades.
Photos showing angry people protesting against Deng in front of the gate of Shandong Jianzhu University are circulating online.
The protestors are holding Mao's portraits and banners that read "whoever opposes Chairman Mao is an enemy of the People".
The photos are dated Wednesday. Mao's loyalists said on their blogs that a few supporters of Deng argued with them at the scene but they were outnumbered by patriots who love Mao.
