Racist and pornographic illustrations in Chinese textbooks used in several schools across the country have sparked an uproar.
After facing criticism for the illustrations, People’s Education Press was forced to recall a set of elementary school math textbooks.
Apologising for the offensive illustrations, the state-owned Chinese educational publisher said it will redesign them.
“We humbly adopted the good opinions and suggestions from all walks of life,” it said in its statement.
Some of the illustrations were shared on China’s Twitter-like social media platform called Weibo and they continued to be one of the top trending items, with the hashtag on the subject receiving over 2.2 billion views.
The textbooks depicted Chinese children with small eyes set wide apart and boys appeared to be shown with outlines of male genitalia on their pants.
In picture: Illustration of the textbook posted on Weibo
Some Weibo users pointed out that the illustrations were covertly pro-American as some children were depicted wearing clothing with stars and stripes on them in the textbook.
“Absolutely there are traitors hidden somewhere, pro-US elements who have permeated our educational system,” said another user.
China and the United States have been at loggerheads with each other with Washington supporting Taiwan’s bid for independence.
Carving the world into two decoupled blocs, both superpowers are attempting to push third countries into an alliance system.
(With inputs from agencies)
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