The University of Stuttgart has fallen under wide criticism among Chinese students in Germany after the university rector allegedly denounced the excessively large Chinese community on campus as a “thorn in the side.”

Chinese students at the university began to feel bitter about their rector after local media outlet Stuttgarter Zeitung ran an article titled in translation as “University rector criticizes large proportion of foreigner [students]” on June 10.

The university rector, professor Wolfram Ressel, said in the article that the 1,300 Chinese students are part of the growing population of foreign students on campus which has about 28,000 people in total and the Chinese is the largest community.

Ressel pointed out how Chinese students, many of whom have poorer language abilities, tend to stay together and seldom attend campus activities. He also said in the interview that the Chinese students often use the kitchens to cook for themselves without cleaning up later, hence giving rise to conflicts.

“We hope that Stuttgart could get sincere and outstanding foreigners … we generally wish to attract the best minds,” Ressel was quoted as saying.

In addition, many students expressed their disagreement especially against one sentence in the abstract, which said “Chinese students especially, are a thorn in the eye to him.” The unfriendly wording quickly drew much attention and some recent translated articles in Chinese related to the incident simply wrote it as a direct quotation from the rector, adding more fuel to the fire.

“Even if it is a slip of the tongue of the rector, it has reflected some Germans’ prejudice against Chinese,” a Chinese student at the university, who requested anonymity, told People’s Daily Online.

The VCWSS, a local organization for Chinese students and scholars, on Wednesday said on its official WeChat account that it has contacted the university rector through email and telephone and a meeting will be held to dismiss possible misunderstanding.

Officials with the Chinese Consulate-General in Frankfurt also expressed serious concerns, and have contacted the university’s international office, said the VCWSS, while calling for overseas students to stay rational and objective.

On the other hand, some also admitted the problems raised by the rector, as some Chinese students new to the Western lifestyle are yet to adapt themselves to their new life, said an article published on Tuesday on the WeChat account of abcdv.net, one of the largest online forum for Chinese nationals in Germany.

It also noted that it is a case of cultural clash when Chinese students are deemed as reluctant to join new groups, while expressing hope that overseas students can gradually learn to openly express themselves so that others will not see Chinese as “dorks who only smile in front of others.”