Foreign names not part of the game

• Source: Global Times
• [08:28 August 13 2010]
• Comments

By Chen Xiaoru

Authorities said Thursday that people should not add foreign language names to their Chinese names when applying for documents on the Chinese mainland as the national government system has problems recognizing such combinations.

The Exit-Entry Administration Bureau said Thursday it has seen a growing number of instances where applicants have used a mix of Chinese and English names, which has made processing their requests unfeasible.

In one case a Chinese woman, who had a child with her foreign husband, named their son in Chinese and English, "成维 (translating to Cheng Wei) Arnau Benet Cheng."

Due to the combination of both Chinese and English, the name could not be properly registered with various Chinese departments, and therefore, the child of Chinese nationality, was unable to obtain a hukou, or permanent residency, nor a social welfare account. Their son was also unable to get a passport until his parents reapplied for the documents using only his Chinese name.

According to an overseas-born Chinese, who preferred not to be named, when registering at various places in the city, her English and Chinese names often cause confusion.

"Some places prefer to record my Chinese name, while others use my English one, or a combination of both," she told the Global Times Thursday. "My employer had trouble paying me at first because they kept getting my bank-regis-tered name mixed up.

"I even have trouble keeping track of how my name is registered at different spots around the city," she added.

Long names no better

Officials said Thursday that nothing, however, can really be done to remedy the limitations placed on cases involving foreign language names, sometimes leaving foreigners with lengthy names as the victims of documentation misunderstandings in China.

"We had a French man who couldn't transfer his wages back to France because of a discrepancy between the name used for his Chinese bank account, and the one on his passport," Li Dandan, a press officer from the Consulate Gener-al of France in Shanghai, told the Global Times Thursday. "He had to shorten his name at the bank because not all of the letters would fit in the space provided by the computer data system."

Similarly, Huang Zhou, a local woman who married a foreigner, said that her husband has been rejected by Chinese airliners because his name, which has been shortened on his boarding pass, fails to match up with that on his passport.

Meanwhile, Ye Jun, a professor of international relations from the International College of Chinese Studies, said that Chinese government agencies and enterprises should pay more respect to foreigners.

"Foreigners from certain countries have long names because of their culture, religion or heritage," he told the Global Times Thursday. "Governments and companies should make more effort to work around foreigners in this situation."

He added that in cases of registration, or air travel, more flexibility should be given to foreigners.