“Fan Run Run”: A teacher in China left students behind during the 2008 Sichuan earthquake in new controversy

A Chinese teacher famous for leaving his students behind during the deadly 2008 Sichuan earthquake has appeared in the news again due to his controversial comments about the accident.

Fan Meizhong, referred to on the Internet as Fan Run Run after his escape, was studying Chinese at Guangya School in Dujiangyan, Sichuan, when the earthquake struck May 12, 2008.

Within minutes of his escape, his students joined him unscathed. Students later complained that he had left them in class. The magnitude 8 earthquake left 69,000 people dead and 18,222 missing.

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During the public backlash, Van was fired from his job and denounced online and in the media. He repeatedly stated in interviews that it is not the duty of a teacher to save students at the cost of his life.

“I am a person who seeks freedom and justice, rather than sacrificing his interests for the sake of others,” Fan wrote in an article published shortly after the incident. “In this moment of choosing between death and life, I will sacrifice myself only for my daughter’s sake. Regarding other people, even including my mother, I will not care about them in this circumstance.”

Yesterday on the thirteenth anniversary of the earthquake, a video clip of Van appeared while being interviewed on a talk show in 2012 in which he repeated his previous comments on Weibo.

“What I have said these years is an important intellectual enlightenment for China. My views have had a great positive impact on the students,” he said on the program. “I help them realize their own rights and know that we must build the right systems, instead of relying on people’s morals, to make this world better.”

Its owner said that the miracle Chinese pig that survived the 2008 Sichuan earthquake is dying

He said, “Maybe I am the one in China who has put the most effort into sticking to being one who is normal.”

Netizens were divided over Fan comments.

“I say he chooses to run first is human nature. Someone wrote on Weibo,” but he always brags about his escape and I look at him with contempt.

But another user commented, “I think he has done nothing wrong. It is not necessary to criticize him morally.” He got nearly 400 likes.

A third person said on Weibo, “It makes no sense to use his escape as propaganda. We must remember the heroes who saved others in the earthquake and spread their souls.”

Tan Qianqiu, another teacher at Dongqi Middle School in Deyang, was one of those cited as a hero, using his body and office to form a shelter for four students in the earthquake. All students were rescued, but Tan died in the disaster.

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