Xinjiang's Party committee has vowed to clean up "malignant ideological influences" in all fields and is "determined to win the ideological battle" in the coming year to maintain stability.

At a meeting on Tuesday, Party officials of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region said its publicity work should focus on ideology this year, and should ensure the absolute safety of ideology work, Xinjiang Daily reported Wednesday.

The report said that the government vowed to "clean up malignant ideological influences in all fields," and to uncover these "two-faced" people.

Those who need to be cleaned up are people who do not firmly believe in socialism and communism, and "two-faced" people refers to those who appear to believe in socialism but secretly sympathize or even support separatism, Xiong Kunxin, a professor at Beijing's Minzu University of China, told the Global Times Thursday.

He noted that in order to win the ideological battle, the Party must regulate media, especially websites, which are a hotbed for separatists.

In February 2017, the Xinjiang government busted seven instances of individuals spreading extremism and illegal content online after receiving tips, Xinjiang-based news site ts.cn reported.

The region's official also said it will use the internet as a tool to help instill the correct ideology.

The report said that last year, the government stressed the importance of publicizing the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC); the activities that help grass-roots Xinjiang villagers bond with the local governments, and supervision over publications.

In December 2017, officials and government employees in Xinjiang were required to live and study with a local foster family whom officials were told to consider and treat as "relatives."

About a million government officials and employees took part in the unity week campaign, launched in December by the Xinjiang government to enhance ethnic unity and practice the spirit of the 19th CPC National Congress, the Xinjiang Daily reported in early January.