A textbook ban to curtail “Western values in China” could be a boon for educational institutions in Canada, say experts. “This ban that was recently announced will have a positive impact on luring Chinese students to Canada,” said a B.C.-based education entrepreneur, who already has schools in Beijing.
“The students there are unhappy… they want to expand their horizons and online courses from Western universities or going to Canada, the U.S. and Australia are being looked at increasingly as options,” he said.
Curtailing Western Values in Chinese Classrooms
Chinese Education Minister Yuan Guiren announced the textbook ban late last month, adding that universities should, “promote the ideas of Chinese President Xi Jinping in teaching materials, classrooms and our minds,” to help create an ideologically sound workforce.
Guiren followed up with an essay in an elite party journal this month warning that, “young teachers and students are key targets of infiltration by enemy forces,” who have stepped up efforts to influence them.
Students were at the forefront of the biggest challenge to China’s Communist Party in 1989, which ended in the bloody army crackdown in Tiananmen Square. Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests last year were likewise led by students.
Such ramping up of the rhetoric around education may be one reason why most of the two dozen students interviewed by DPA News did not give their full names, stating a fear of retribution or damage to their future careers.
Campaign Against Academic Freedom
Students were at the forefront of the biggest challenge to China’s Communist Party in 1989, which ended in the bloody army crackdown in Tiananmen Square. Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests last year were likewise led by students.
Human rights advocates say the education ministry’s directives are the latest sign that academic freedom is being targeted in Jinping’s ideological campaign, which has until now focused on the media and online speech.
“At the heart of this escalating crackdown on civil society is greater emphasis on ideological control and the supremacy of the Party,” said Maya Wang, China researcher for Human Rights Watch.
Human rights lawyer Mo Shaoping said Guiren’s comments were outrageous even compared to typical comments from government officials. “How can he say something that makes no sense? Did Marxism not come from the West?… It is difficult to distinguish between knowledge that comes from the West and what is from the East,” he told DPA News.
“It is just like a new Cultural Revolution is coming,” Shaoping said, referring to a dark period of widespread persecution – especially of the educated classes – in China between 1966 and 1976.
Students Fight Back
But the government’s harder line may not have the desired results, according to many students who spoke to DPA. Those proficient in English said they plan to take free online courses offered by U.S. schools such as Harvard, Berkeley and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
“As a university student studying art and design, I need to understand Western culture and civilization so I’d have to find my own books or learn via the Internet,” said Pan Yubing, 20.
Others say they are now more interested in seeking opportunities to study abroad. “The environment in China seems not good for professional development. I want to go out and broaden my horizons,” said a female student with the surname Zhou at Shenyang University.
“They are trying to make us accept their fixed ideology. I really don’t like it.” – 21-year-old student, Cai
More than 274,000 Chinese students were studying in American universities during the last academic year, according to the Institute of International Education, making up the largest group of foreign students in the U.S. In Canada, that number is about 98,000.
International student enrolment in Canada grew from 159,426 in 2003 to over 290,000 in 2013 – an 84 per cent increase. Canada derives eight billion dollars annually from international student expenditures including tuition and living expenses.
Chinese foreign relations student Cai is no fan of being told what books he can – or rather cannot – study for his degree at the North China Institute of Science and Technology.
“They are trying to make us accept their fixed ideology,” says the 21-year-old who only wanted to be identified by his last name. “I really don’t like it.”
Cai is sceptical of new guidelines from the country’s education minister banning books that promote “Western values,” and he is far from the only one. “Studying only the culture of China cannot compare to being exposed to other cultures and learning from them,” said Isaac, an 18-year-old finance major in Beijing, who gave only his English name.
“It’s much too strict,” said a student from Liaoning province who did not want to be named. “The government should relax a little.”
The stricter regulation of educational institutions follows a reported strengthening of China’s Internet censorship, known as the “Great Firewall.” Increased disruption to virtual private network services, which can bypass Internet controls, come on top of longstanding restrictions such as the blocking of Google Scholar, a search tool for academic literature.
Renewed political pressure on their studies and restricted source materials are making the future appear bleaker to some of China’s students.
Re-published with permission from Asian Pacific Post.
