A teacher who allegedly threatened girls, stating that if they didn't kiss him they would not receive their graduation certificates from a middle school in Linxia County, northwest China's Gansu province, has recently aroused controversy on the Internet, Xinhuanet reports.

The local education department responded on Wednesday that the teacher has been suspended from his work and an investigation is underway.

The news was broken by a netizen by the name of "Xiu Dada" on BBS.voc.com.cn on Tuesday. The teacher Zhang Runhua with the Tuqiao middle school allegedly ordered the entire class of girls to kiss him or be kissed in exchange for their graduation certificates.

The netizen also exposed a set of photos revealing students kissing the teacher. In the photos, a man suspected of being Zhang Runhua was accepting students' kisses with a smile.

According to a teacher also surnamed Zhang, Zhang Runhua was in charge of the third year of a senior high class at Tuqiao middle school and was a very responsible teacher. The school headmaster surnamed Wang stated that according to the picture published on BBS, "the man should be initially identified as Zhang Runhua himself."

Netizens posted many comments regarding the news. Most condemned the teacher's actions, but others said that it should not be blown out of proportion. Those in support of Zhang Runhua said that the pictures displayed students expressing emotions towards their teacher and called on the public to pay attention to protecting children at all times.

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