Two Chinese men in their 20s have been arrested over an alleged case of cheating on a Hitotsubashi University entrance exam, in which they posted test questions on social media and solicited answers, police said Thursday.
Tokyo police on Wednesday arrested Wang Jialu, a 22-year-old student, and Li Suihan, 28, his alleged accomplice, on a charge of obstructing university operations. Wang allegedly enlisted Li, his former tutor, to assist in the plot in exchange for compensation.
Wang, who sat the entrance exam held on Jan. 31 for international applicants, and Li are suspected of conspiring to photograph a math exam sheet while the testing session was ongoing and sharing it on social media, the Metropolitan Police Department said.
Investigators said Thursday that Wang allegedly used small earphones during the exam to contact Li, who was outside the venue. Police are investigating under the assumption that the pair arranged to use devices that would go unnoticed by those around them.
Small wireless earphones and a smartphone were confiscated during a search of Wang's home, investigators said, and an analysis of his call records and other data is under way.
The exam covered math, Japanese and general subject questions. Cheating across all three subjects is being investigated as Li has allegedly admitted to sharing answers with Wang on subjects other than math, investigative sources said.
Just ahead of the exam, Li allegedly asked another university student from China to write a post on Chinese social media platform WeChat that said, "I'm looking for someone who can help me with homework," according to the police.
Images of the questions were forwarded to people who volunteered to help, and the case came to light after a user who saw the post notified the university.
Seven questions from the math exam are believed to have been posted, the police said, but it is unknown whether Wang received any of the answers during the exam or why the pair used social media rather than simply having former tutor Li research the questions himself.
A total of 67 privately funded foreign students were sitting the exam, according to the university, of whom 29 people, including Wang, passed.
At the time, Wang was attending another university and took the test to enroll at Hitotsubashi University.
"It is extremely regrettable that a student has been arrested," Hitotsubashi University said in a statement.
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