Major Beijing universities still using foreign textbooks despite minister’s call for ban

An investigation by mainland media shows that major universities in Beijing are continuing to use foreign textbooks in the spring semester, which started today – despite a government minister’s call last month for them to be banned.

Education Minister Yuan Guiren called for foreign textbooks that “spread Western values” to be banned last month when he met senior Beijing university officials including those from Peking and Tsinghua.

However, university students are still using a variety of foreign textbooks for their required courses, Beijing Youth Daily reported today.

Foreign textbooks are also still being sold in university bookstores, while some university publishers claiming that he yet to receive any notice stating that they have been banned from publishing foreign textbooks.

Yuan urged universities to keep classrooms clear of remarks that “defame the rule of the Communist Party, smear socialism or violate the constitution and laws”, Xinhua reported last month.

He also said that teachers must not grumble in class to avoid “passing on negative emotions to their students”.