The University of Chinese Academy of Sciences expelled a master's degree student on Sunday after he repeatedly made "false statements" about the Nanjing Massacre on his foreign-based social media platform.

In his posts, Ji Ziyue called Japanese soldiers who joined the massacre "heroes" and insulted Chinese as "trash".

"His remarks are extremely wrong and brought bad social effects. His behavior harmed national interests and the honor of his motherland, hurt national feelings and violated regulations of both the country and the university," said an announcement by the university.

According to the announcement, Ji went to the United States for personal affairs on Jan 13 and got stranded there due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

He took the spring semester courses online in accordance with the university's requirement.

From March to June, he posted derogatory remarks online frequently.

On July 8, Ji returned to China and landed in Chengdu, Sichuan province. He is still under quarantine at a designated medical observation site.

The announcement said that Ji attended a meeting online organized by the university to discuss the issue and then he requested a hearing about the university's decision online later.

During the meeting and hearing, he made a statement and a defense, apologized and expressed his regret.

After review and approval from the university president's office, the university made the decision of the expulsion.

"The university will never condone any such behavior that harms the country. This will be a lesson for us to further strengthen talent cultivation in all aspects," the announcement said.