LONDON - Western academics have appealed against the Cold War stance on China, saying such a Cold War mentality is adversely affecting research and education ties between China and the West, according to a British journal.

"Increasingly, Western scholars are facing pressure to take a critical standpoint on China," said an article published Monday in the Times Higher Education journal.

The world will become increasingly unknown to us if the West fails to engage with China and other parts of the world, Nana de Graaff, associate professor at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, was quoted as saying.