On January 31, 2015, Guangming Daily published a commentary rebutting criticism of the remarks China’s Minister of Education made about Western values in Chinese universities.
Recently, Yuan Guiren, the Minister of Education, remarked that no Western values shall be put in any classroom textbooks. According to the commentary, “Although most people applauded and praised the remarks, some deliberately misinterpreted, distorted, and even attacked him.”
“A few university faculty members openly approve of the anti-Party and anti-socialist forces. Foreign hostile forces engage in ideological penetration among college teachers and students. Some university leaders, to a great extent, ignore ideological work. Leaders and teachers at other universities keep silent to protect themselves, and do not ‘show their swords,’ thus … losing ground. … We must fully recognize the importance and urgency of ideological work. “
According to the commentary, “In today’s China, ‘Western values’ mainly refers to erroneous ideas from the Western capitalist world. It especially refers to the erroneous doctrines of political thought and Western political values such as constitutional democracy, ‘universal values,’ civil society, and neo-liberalism … of the Western capitalist countries as represented by the United States."
Source: Guangming Daily reprinted by People’s Daily, January 2015
http://theory.gmw.cn/2015-01/31/content_14701183.htm