Vice-President Xi Jinping has ordered universities to step up ideological control of students and young lecturers ahead of the keynote 18th party congress this autumn, CCTV reported yesterday.
Xi is expected to succeed President Hu Jintao in a new Politburo line-up at the Communist Party's 18th national congress - with the party seeking a smooth transition and attempting to remove threats to its political control.
'University party organs must adopt firmer and stronger measures to maintain harmony and stability in universities. Daily management of the institutions should be stepped up to create a good atmosphere for the success of the party's 18th congress,' Xi said yesterday in Beijing at a gathering of Communist Party representatives from universities.
The party, unnerved by a series of riots, demonstrations and strikes caused by land seizures, pollution and labour disputes, is stepping up control on different fronts - such as in propaganda, media and social controls - to minimise political risks ahead of the congress.
The revolutions in the Middle East last year, along with online postings calling for similar ones in China, have also put the party on high alert.
Universities have long been regarded as the most important stronghold for the party's grip on ideology.