China urges universities to ditch 'Western propaganda textbooks'

The Chinese minister of education has urged universities to stop using textbooks that promote Western propaganda.

Yuan Guiren issued a statement warning that Western ideology should never infiltrate the classroom, Xinhua news agency reported.

"[We must]) strengthen effective management of Western original classroom materials and we must not allow materials into our classrooms that spread Western values," Yuan was quoted as saying.

He also discouraged students from engaging in discussions concerning criticism of the Chinese government in class, while saying professors must never vent personal grudges or convey negative emotions to students.

"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 statement said.

Teachers must also stand firm and hold the "political, legal and moral bottom line".

Yuan's statement came a few months after a Chinese university banned Christmas celebrations.

Last year, former teacher at Beijing-based Minzu University Ilham Tohti was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment after being accused of spreading separatist values among students.

Tohti was very outspoken regarding the promotion of human rights for the Uyghur community, a Muslim ethnic-group in the Xinjan autonomous region who demand independence from the Chinese government.