Guangdong National Language Regulations

The Guangdong National Language Regulations (Chinese: 廣東省國家通用語言文字規定)[1] is a set of laws enacted by the Guangdong provincial government in the People's Republic of China in 2012 to promote the use of Standard Mandarin Chinese in broadcast and print media at the expense of the local Chinese varieties of Cantonese, Hakka and Teochew. It has also been labelled a "pro-Mandarin, anti-Cantonese" legislation (廢粵推普、推普廢粵).[2] The law was signed and came into effect on 1 March 2012.[3][4][5]

Guangdong National Language Regulations
Simplified Chinese广东省国家通用语言文字规定
Traditional Chinese廣東省國家通用語言文字規定
Alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese废粤推普
Traditional Chinese廢粵推普

Ban

The regulations require the entire Guangdong province to broadcast in Pǔtōnghuà Mandarin.[6] Dialect programs and channels can be broadcast if approved by the national or provincial government.[6] In addition, signs of service stores are to be written in simplified Chinese except when in historical sites, pre-registered logos and other exceptions or as approved by state.[6]

Guangdong Governor Zhu Xiaodan signed and set the date of the law to take effect on 1 March 2012.[3] The requirement forces all government workers, teachers, conference holders, broadcasters, and TV staff to use Mandarin only.[7] All state-run items involving brands, seals, documents, websites, signs, and trade names are not to use Traditional Chinese characters or Variant Chinese characters.[3] People who do not follow the law will be punished accordingly, as the new law is mandatory.[6][7][8]

Responses

The signing has triggered massive negative responses in Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Macau. There were talks of raising movements.[7] The law is said to have effects equal to the elimination of the autochthonous Cantonese culture.[9] On 24 December, the Guangdong government held a press conference stating that the regulation does not in fact ban Cantonese;[10] one official stating that such a ban will never occur. Currently, the Guangdong province has two channels approved to broadcast mainly in Cantonese, while various other channels and radio stations have dialect programs.[10]

See also

References
  1. 粵新聞辦：沒條例限制方言 [Guangdong Gov Spokesperson Says "No Canto-Oppression" in New Language Act]. dailynews.sina.com (in Chinese). 24 December 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  2. 廣東出台通用語言文字規定 無任何條款限制方言播出 [Guangdong's New Language Law "Will Not Limit Local Languages"]. Xinhua News Agency (in Simplified Chinese). 24 December 2011. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 24 July 2019. 最近個別媒體又在炒作所謂的"推普廢粵"之類的報道。記者從今天（12月24日）下午召開的省政府新聞發布會獲悉，我省將于明年3月起實施《廣東省國家通用語言文字規定》，沒有任何限制使用方言的條款。 (Recent media reports claim the Guangdong National Language Regulations is a "Law that oppresses the Cantonse Language". This claim was debunked in a press conference by the Province of Guangdong in 24 December, where the province's spokesperson claim that the new legislation would not ban or limit the use of local languages.)
  3. 廣東廢粵語滅繁體 [Guangdong Limits Use of Cantonese Language and Traditional Chinese Characters]. Oriental Daily (Hong Kong) (in Chinese). Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  4. 粤语将何去何从？广东省国家通用语言文字规定明年实行 [Guangdong National Language Regulations Puts Cantonese Language in the Crosshairs]. Guangzhou Daily (in Chinese). 17 December 2011. Archived from the original on 1 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  5. 广东颁布规定限制使用方言 [Guangdong plans to limit local languages in new legislation]. BBC News (in Chinese). 18 December 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  6. 《广东省国家通用语言文字规定》全文 [Full Text of Guangdong National Language Regulations]. news.ifeng.com (in Chinese). 18 December 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  7. 廣東限制粵語廣播 恐爆抗議潮 [Protests Worries As Guangdong Pushes New Language Bill]. worldjournal.com (in Chinese). Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  8. 粵嚴令媒體 推普限制粵方言 [Guangdong's Strict New Media Laws Oppresses Cantonese]. Sing Tao Daily (in Chinese). 18 December 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2012 – via Yahoo News Hong Kong.
  9. 粵語播音須報准 民轟「弱智」 [Guangdong Locals Criticises New Language Act] (in Chinese). tw.nextmedia.com. 19 December 2011. Archived from the original on 11 January 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
  10. 广东官方："废粤"不存在 无任何条款限制方言播出 [Guangdong Government Claims "No Limitations" on Local Language Programming]. Xinhua News Agency (in Chinese). 25 December 2011. Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
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