Opinion: The search for truth in ideology

• Date 30.01.2015

China wants to ban textbooks containing Western values from its universities, except for ideas of Western-imported Marxism. China's ideological control continues to gain ground, writes DW's Matthias von Hein.

"Seek truth from facts" - that was one of the main Marxist ideas from Deng Xiaoping, the architect of the Chinese reform and opening-up policy. Under this motto China has come very far in improving its image. But Deng's successors seem to want to deviate from this path. For them, the truth lies in ideology rather than facts.

The campaign for ideological control, which was initiated by state and party leader, Xi Jinping, is intensifying. Having already established stricter control over the media and Internet, academic freedom, which was already limited, is now next on the chopping block. Textbooks with "Western values" will henceforth be banned in China's universities as decreed by education minister, Yang Guiren, at a conference on Thursday, January 29.

DW's Matthias von Hein

The fight against 'Western values'

Last weekend, a party newspaper attacked two alleged representatives of "Western values:" a professor and a painter. Shortly thereafter, universities were urged to increase the circulation of party propaganda and strengthen the teachings of Marxism as well as the ideals of Chinese socialism in the classroom.

This all fits into the puzzle: already at the beginning of the Xi era, an internal party document warned against "Western values." Specifically the document raised awareness of the "Western ideals" of government checks and balances, judicial review, media and press freedom, as well as the idea of civil society.

As a result, the government has been exerting increasing pressure on dissidents ever since. Those opposing the ruling party were thrown into prison along with their lawyers. Ilham Tohti, an economics professor in Beijing and a moderate critic of the government's "nationality policies" was sentenced to life imprisonment last September on separatism charges after he championed the rights of the country's Muslim Uighur minority. Moreover, a host of restrictions have been set in place to keep journalists in line.

Since late January, China's censors have been disrupting so-called Virtual Private Network connections (VPN), used by many in the country to bypass the so-called "Great Firewall" and access blocked websites. "The country needs new methods to tackle new problems," said Wen Ku, director of telecoms development at the Ministry of Industry and Information (MIIT). It seems a minor matter now that Internet users in China have to register online using their own names since the beginning of the year.

All this points to both a massive degree of distrust towards the ruled and also an unconditional will to wield and retain power. In a US diplomatic cable disclosed by Wikileaks we can get an idea of how Xi Jinping was viewed by a former close friend. In 2009 the friend is cited as saying that Xi wasn't corrupt or driven by money, but "could be corrupted by power."

Since becoming president in 2013, Xi has amassed more power than any of his predecessors since Deng Xiaoping. For this to continue, actions have been taken against anyone or anything that may cast a slur at the party or its members, including "Western values." In this sense it seems ironic that Marxism is also an import from the West and that incumbent Premier Li Keqiang excelled in translating Western legal texts when he was younger.