Beijing Tightens Ideological Control: New Textbooks Emphasise National Security, Xi Thought
By Tsering Choephel
DHARAMSALA, 28 August: New Chinese school textbooks for primary and junior school students are set to be introduced from the autumn semester beginning next week. With increased content dedicated to ‘national security and traditional culture,’ it is Beijing’s latest move to step up ideological propaganda and control, says a report by the South China Morning Post today.
The new textbooks cover subjects of the Chinese language, history, as well as morality and law, which until 2016 was known as ideology and politics. Initially, the new textbooks will be used for grades one to seven with the goal of eventual extension to all nine grades within three years, says the report.
The textbook on morality and law, which promotes the ideology of the ruling Communist Party, would introduce the “main content and historical status” of Xi Jinping Thought. Xi’s political philosophy, officially known as “Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era,” was enshrined in China’s constitution in 2018.
The new history textbook reportedly covers the 1962 Indo-China war as well as the 1979 China-Vietnam conflict. However, Chinese students are kept in the dark about facts of its disastrous history such as Mao’s ‘Cultural Revolution’ and the student movement at Tiananmen Square and Beijing’s bloody suppression of it.
Compiled over the course of two years and already in use by more than 100,000 students in over 550 schools prior to its official nationwide launch, these new textbooks are based on Xi’s political doctrines on culture, economy, diplomacy, military, environment, as well as legal affairs that have been institutionalised in the CCP’s governance and control of the country.
Chinese literature and revolution stories prior to the CCP’s ascension to power in 1949, China’s technological development, as well as its advanced deep-sea research submersible Jiaolong will also be featured in the new textbooks.
The report quoted a Ministry of Education official as saying that the new content would “allow students to deeply understand that national security is a top priority and that everyone has a responsibility to safeguard it,” adding that students would absorb what it means to “forge a sense of community for the Chinese nation.
