Friday, February 20, 2015

China's News Outlets Publish Editorials Supporting Increased Party Control Over University Classrooms and Media

On February 6, 2015, the print editions of the People's Daily, Guangming Daily, and the China Education Daily, as well as the Xinhua website published editorials on the topic of ideological indoctrination at China's institutions of higher learning. Some themes that were repeated in more than one editorial:
  • Do not restrict what can be researched, but impose discipline on what is said in classrooms.
  • Increase control over radio, television, billboards, the Internet, public lectures, research seminars, lectures, forums, and the activities of organizations. 
  • Establish systems so that every meeting and event gets reported.
  • Under no circumstances provide any room for the dissemination of any erroneous Western viewpoints or inappropriate speech that is anti-Marxist or anti-socialist.
People's Daily, Page Six: "Ensure Marxism Plays Leading Role in Universities' Ideological Arenas" (坚持马克思主义在高校意识形态领域的指导地位).
Jin Nuo [Party Central Committee Secretary at China People's University] said that university liberal arts departments have made important contributions to cementing the leadership role of Marxism in universities' ideological arena. But they have not lived up to the demands of the times and the hopes of the Party and the people when it comes to training personnel, thought leadership, and policy consulting. In particular, some people fail to take Chinese practices and Chinese issues as the starting point for thought and research, and simply use Western theoretical and academic discourse systems to analyze Chinese practices. 
靳诺说,高校哲学社会科学为巩固马克思主义在意识形态领域的指导地位、服务党和国家工作大局作出了重要贡献。但与时代的要求与党和人民的期望相比,在人才培养、理论创新、决策咨询等方面还有不少差距,特别是有的人不是从中国的实践和问题出发进行思考和研究,而简单地用西方的理论和学术话语体系来解读中国的实践。
Guangming Daily, Page Four: Teachers Are the Foundation of Ideology Battlefield Construction at Our Institutions of Higher Learning (高校意识形态阵地建设根本在于教师).
Zhang Leisheng, a professor at the Marxism Institute at China People's University, stressed that, when comes to ideological issues, if we do not speak in terms of a "singular" guiding ideology, if we do not speak in terms of Marxism being our guiding ideology, then there is no hope for socialism. "At China's current stage, we must insist upon having Marxism as our guide, and employ a "singular" guiding ideology to steer and create conformity amongst diverse social ideologies."
. . . .
Zhang Leisheng also stressed that university instructors must be clear: "there are no areas of academic research that are out-of-bounds, but classroom lectures must observe discipline, and everyone will be held responsible for the words they speak. . . . Being responsible for Marxist theory and political ideology education means living up to the responsibility to provide college students with instruction in theory and guidance in thought, insisting upon making the Party's basic line the inherent basis for all instruction, and taking the initiative to become a proselytizer of core socialist values. Whether inside or outside the classroom, you must be strict with yourself, and use your academic charm and personal charisma to infect your students."
. . . .
"Increase control over classroom instruction, strictly direct and supervise the teaching process, implement comprehensive controls over radio, television, billboards, the Internet, public lectures, research seminars, lectures, forums, and the activities of organizations. Establish systems so that every meeting and event gets reported, and under no circumstances provide any room for the dissemination of any erroneous ideas or inappropriate speech that is anti-Marxist or anti-socialist."
. . . .
Online life has already become an important way of life for university teachers, a well as becoming a major channel for the expression of social trends and the exchange of ideas. What we must pay more attention to, however, is that in recent years enemy forces have employed every means at their disposal, including capital infiltration, inciting propaganda, and data mining, to use Internet platforms to attract students, and have tried in vain to mislead students' ideology, control students' values, and shake students' faith." Su Ming, Director of Shanghai's Education Commission, believes that in order to ensure that Marxism plays the leading role in universities' ideological arena, we must get a hold over how expression is regulated, and do everything feasible to strengthening leadership over online public opinion. 
中国人民大学马克思主义学院教授张雷声强调,在意识形态领域,不讲指导思想的“一元化”,不讲马克思主义为指导思想,社会主义就没有出路,“在我国现阶段,我们必须坚持以马克思主义为指导,用‘一元化’的指导思想去引领和整合多样化的社会思想”。
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张雷声强调,大学老师必须要明确“学术研究无禁区,课堂讲授有纪律,个人言论要负责”,“马克思主义理论和思想政治教育的责任,就是要承担起对大学生进行理论教育和思想引导的责任,把坚持党的基本路线作为教学的基本要求,做社会主义核心价值观的自觉传播者。无论是课上还是课下,都应严于律己,以自身的学术魅力和人格魅力去感染学生”。
. . . .
加强课堂教学管理,严格教学过程督导,健全广播、电视台、橱窗、网络和报告会、研讨会、讲座、论坛、社团活动等的管理,实行‘一会一报’和‘一事一报’,决不给反马克思主义、反社会主义的错误思想和不当言论提供传播空间”。
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“网络生活已成为高校师生的一种重要生活方式,也成为各种社会思潮、思想交锋输出的重要渠道。更要注意的是,近年来,敌对势力借助资本渗透、煽动传播、数据挖掘等手段,千方百计利用网络平台吸引学生,妄图在思想观念上误导学生、价值取向上左右学生、理想信念上动摇学生。”上海市教委主任苏明认为,坚持马克思主义在高校意识形态领域的指导地位,要把握传播规律,切实加强网络舆论引导。
China Education Daily, Page Two: "Move to Make a Grab, Dare to Take Control, Excel at Building" (主动抓敢于管善于建) by Zuo Min, Party Secretary for the Shangdong Party Committee Education Working Group. 
Enforce the principle of freedom in academic research and discipline in classroom lectures, formulate measures to control the classroom that are based on scientific principles, establish classroom control systems, strictly implement oversight and inspection of teacher hiring and teaching assessment and processes. Under no circumstances permit the spread of incorrect ideological viewpoints in the classroom, and ensure that classroom are fertile soil for the impartation of knowledge.
. . . .
Insist up on the principle that the Party controls the media, increase controls over campus newspapers an periodicals, radio and television, and publications. Implement comprehensive control systems for academic speeches, seminars, lectures, and forums, implement systems so every meeting gets reported, and under no circumstances give incorrect ideological viewpoints any channel for transmission. 
要坚持学术研究无禁区、课堂讲授有纪律的原则,制定科学的课堂管理办法,健全课堂管理体系,严格执行教师聘用、教学考核、教学过程监督检查,决不允许在课堂上散布错误思想观点,确保课堂始终成为教书育人的良田沃土。
. . . .
坚持党管媒体原则,加强对校报校刊、校内广播电视、出版物的管理,完善哲学社会科学报告会、研讨会、讲座、论坛管理制度,落实一会一报制,决不给错误思想观点提供传播渠道。
China Education Daily, Page Two: "Enforce a Direction in Schooling, Drive for Ideological Excellence, Do Your Duty to Achieve Virtue in Education" (坚持办学方向 突出思想引领 落实立德树人根本任务) by Li Zhongwei, Party Secretary for the Shanxi Party Committee Education Working Group. 
We must redouble our efforts when it comes to political ideology, and make it explicit to teachers their  responsibility and a duty when it comes to cultivating an ideology, that they are duty-bound to bear a responsibility to history, and to increase conformity of ideology, politics, and sentiment. We must strive to consolidate bottom-line-thinking, and enable teachers to steadfastly hold up the bottom the political, legal, and moral bottom lines. Enforce the principle of freedom in academic research and discipline in classroom lectures. Do not transmit or spread any viewpoints that illegal or harmful, do not defame or smear the Party's leaders or the socialist system, and do not vent your personal negative feelings of resentment. 
. . . .
Implement comprehensive control systems for the battlefield of ideological propaganda. Implement systems so that every academic speech, seminar, lecture, and forum, gets reported. Increase controls over university newspapers and periodicals, radio stations, television stations, and publications. Regulate how all kinds of university organizations are managed. Under no circumstances provide the slightest opening for incorrect ideological trends and viewpoints, and ensure that the battlefield of university ideological propaganda is orderly and healthy. 
要着力加强思想政治工作,使教师明晰自己在意识形态培育中的责任和义务,责无旁贷地担负历史责任,增强理论认同、政治认同、情感认同;要切实强化底线思维,使教师牢牢守好政治底线、法律底线、道德底线,坚持科学研究无禁区、课堂讲授有纪律的原则,不传播、散布违法有害观点,不诽谤、抹黑党的领导和社会主义制度,不宣泄、传导个人怨气和负面情绪。
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完善宣传思想阵地管理制度,落实举办哲学社会科学报告会、研讨会、讲座、论坛一会一报制度。加强高校校报校刊、广播站、电视台及出版物的管理,规范高校各类社团管理,决不给错误思潮和观点提供丝毫空间,确保高校宣传思想工作阵地有序健康。
Xinhua: "What's Wrong With Saying 'No' to Incorrect Western Viewpoints?" (对西方错误观点说“不”何错之有?) http://news.xinhuanet.com/politics/2015-02/06/c_1114287366.htm
Recently, Yuan Guiren, the Minister of Eduction, became a hot topic when his speech about the "introduction of Western teaching materials" made the news. This incident cannot help but lead one to ponder.
. . . .
Yuan Guiren pointed out some problems with the teaching materials used in universities and their teaching environment. He established certain fundamental principles and bottom lines with respect to the introduction of Western teaching materials, and called for a boycott of "incorrect Western value systems." He did not, however, completely repudiate, much less "shut down," anything. In this respect, it is completely twisting Yuan's fundamental meaning for some people to interpret what he said as a "complete repudiation" or a return to a "closed door policy."
. . . .
When it comes to academic issues, we fully support "Let a hundred flowers bloom, let a hundred schools of thought contend," and unequivocally stand up for no restrictions on research on, and discussion of, academic issues. But when it comes to political theory propaganda, including the Party's general and specific policies, then it is also necessary to talk about orientation and self-discipline. This is the primary substance of ideology propaganda work. Universities are important battlegrounds in the ideological arena, and if you don't take the initiative to capture the territory, then other people will capture it. If progressive culture does not capture the territory, then it will be captured by incorrect and backwards things. Western values are a multi-faceted and complicated thing, with much that runs contrary to humanity's civilized and mainstream values. What is so wrong with blocking the spread of the West's incorrect viewpoints? 
近期,教育部部长袁贵仁火了,因为“西方教材引进”的一番讲话上了头条。不过,这件事有点儿耐人寻味。
. . . .
袁贵仁还指出了大学教材使用、教学环节存在的一些问题,确立了一些西方教材引进的基本原则和底线,抵制的是“错误的西方价值观”,并不是全盘否定,更不是“封杀”。从这个意义上讲,一些人所解读的“全盘否定”、重新搞“闭关锁国”云云,完全是对其本意的曲解。
. . . .  
在学术问题上,我们倡导要“百花齐放、百家争鸣”,明确提出学术问题研究和讨论没有禁区。但政治理论包括党的方针政策的宣传,也要讲导向、讲纪律,这是宣传思想工作的重要内容。大学是意识形态领域的重要阵地,你不去主动占领,别人就会去占领,先进文化不去占领,错误落后的东西就会去占领。西方价值观也是多元且纷繁复杂的,也有与人类文明和主流价值观相悖的,抵制西方错误观点的传播,何错之有?

Translation: Xu Zhiyong's Statement in His Own Defense

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