University bans staff criticism of Communist Party

A leading university in southern China has banned its teachers from criticising the constitution and leaders of the Communist Party in class, the latest sign of tightening ideological control on the country’s college campuses, writes Nectar Gan for South China Morning Post.

The guidelines issued by the president’s office at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou recently listed 10 things teachers are prohibited from doing in classrooms. The three items that top the list are “criticising the constitution”, “criticising Chinese Communist Party leaders” and “spreading religion and superstition”.

The university’s publicity department confirmed to the South China Morning Post the guidelines had been issued, but refused to give more details. The Communist Party has sought to further tighten its control of academia in recent years with a series of ideological campaigns targeting professors, their academic work and the curriculum.
Full report on the South China Morning Post site