Education minister warns against 'western values' in colleges

China's education minister warned the country's universities and colleges to maintain political integrity and "never let textbooks promoting western values appear in our classes."

Yuan Guiren made the remarks on Thursday at a forum on improving ideological work in universities and colleges.

Yuan urged the universities to reinforce ideological management, especially of textbooks, teaching materials and class lectures.

He told university officials to strengthen management of the use of textbooks and materials directly taken from western countries.

Also, the minister said remarks that slander the leadership of the Communist Party of China, smear socialism or violate the country's Constitution and laws must never appear or be promoted in college classrooms.

The teachers should never be allowed to vent their personal grudges or discontent while teaching to pass negative ideas to their students, Yuan said.

Yuan called on the universities and colleges to give students positive guidance through intensified work. He also required the teachers to stand firm and hold the "political, legal and moral bottom line."

Local education officials from Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu as well as leading officials of the Peking University, Tsinghua University, Wuhan University, Shandong University and Xiamen University attended the forum.

A Chinese court sentenced Ilham Tohti, a former teacher with Beijing-based Minzu University of China, to life imprisonment for separatism last year. He was found to spread separatist thoughts online and among his students.