Internet users satirize the proposal that calls for the use of Putonghua on Guangzhou TV. Mock poster slogan reads "Guangzhou people speak Cantonese. Back to your hometown if you don't understand." Photo: t.sina.com.cn/sarahbell

By An Baijie

A culture war has erupted in South China over a subject that has already been banned in one public school and may someday be banned on television: Cantonese

Some residents in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province are worried that their local dialect will one day become extinct, along with songs, novels and the rich cultural heritage of Cantonese.

Southern tempers flared after a proposal was put forth by the local committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), calling for the use of Putonghua instead of Cantonese on the news and satellite channels of Guangzhou TV.

Local residents in Guangzhou were quick to react, saying the proposal would "obliterate Cantonese" and organizing rallies to ensure that the dialect will not disappear. Residents of other cities, including Hong Kong, joined in the clamor to demand that TV programs continue to broadcast in Cantonese.

The debate

The debate, which some critics describe as a battle to protect Cantonese culture, was triggered after the Guangzhou committee of the CPPCC made its plan known on July 5. The proposal suggested that either all programs, or at least the prime time news shows and satellite channels of Guangzhou TV should be broadcast only in Putonghua.

The committee said Putonghua broadcasts would accommodate athletes and tourists who come to Guangzhou from other places for the Asian Games in November. Cantonese is spoken on most of the TV network's nine channels, while some local TV stations have Putonghua programs.

The switch to Putonghua is the brainchild of Ji Keguang, the committee member who introduced the proposal and has become a target of hostility by Web users who bullied him with a "human flesh search."

The committee's own opinion poll showed that 80 percent of 30,000 respondents said Guangzhou TV stations should broadcast in Cantonese.

Ratings dip

Guangzhou TV last year invested 30 million yuan ($4.4 million) to switch its business channel from Cantonese to Putonghua. The change resulted in an audience ratings drop from 0.34 in April 2009 to 0.09 this April. The TV network's editorial director, Zeng Zhi, said the network will continue dual language broadcasting.

The crux of the debate is the fear that Putonghua programming could lead to the loss of local culture, such as Cantonese opera, if the dialect spoken in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao becomes a lost language. The Cantonese dialect is also spoken in the eastern part of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and in other cities. The number of people learning Putonghua in Hong Kong and Macao is increasing, but Cantonese still dominates TV programming and is the de facto official spoken language.

Guangdong TV translators dub Putonghua drama into Cantonese. Photo: CFP

Battle lines drawn

Half of Guangzhou's 14 million residents speak Cantonese, and the other half speak mainly Putonghua, People's Daily reported Wednesday.

Adding fuel to the flames, a primary school in the Yuexiu district has banned students from communicating in Cantonese, the Yangcheng Evening News reported on July 9.

To show their frustration over the proposal, hundreds of Guangzhou Internet users, gathered at the city's People's Park on July 11. They held banners written in Cantonese dialect, chanted slogans and sang Cantonese pop songs. The Internet users plan to stage another rally on July 25.

The debate reached fever pitch on July 10 when two talk show hosts on Guangzhou TV satirized the proposal, suggesting that future talk show hosts will be fined if they do not speak Putonghua on the air.

Support groups

Some Internet users even set up Cantonese support groups on Facebook. One defiant member, a Guangdong resident, posted a message saying that she will teach her hus-band from Sichuan Province how to speak Cantonese.

Peng Bo, a Guangxi student who is studying at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, told the Global Times Wednesday that Cantonese is used in his communication with schoolmates from Guangdong. He said he loves watching Cantonese TV programs.

Switching channels

Huang Kezhan, an art editor for a local newspaper in Foshan, told the Global Times that Cantonese should not be banned in TV programming.

"The Cantonese TV programs can successfully meet the need of native speakers, who have been used to the language for many generations," Hang said. "If non-Cantonese speakers don't like such TV programs, they can switch channels because there are a variety of TV programs in other languages."

Cui Jinjuan, who come to Guangzhou from Shandong Province four years ago, told the Global Times that Cantonese is difficult to understand.

"But I oppose the elimination of all Cantonese TV programs, because many natives have already gotten used to the dialect programs, and the withdrawal of dialect programs will do no good to the local traditional culture," Cui said.

"Our language"

Officials have stepped in to assure the locals that their dialect will not become a forgotten language. Su Zhijia, the deputy Party chief of Guangzhou, told local media that the government has never considered eliminating Cantonese.

"Promoting the use of Putonghua does not necessarily mean that Cantonese will be eliminated," Su was quoted as saying by China News Service (CNS) on July 20. "I hope that the public debate over Cantonese will arouse our enthusiasm toward our city, our country and our language."

Wang Yang, the Party Secretary of Guangdong, told a Friday news conference that the local government would continue to promote Putonghua and encourage local residents to learn more foreign languages for better communication with foreigners.

Zhengzhang Shangfang, a scholar at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, was quoted by CNS as saying on July 20 that promoting Putonghua and use of the Cantonese dialect is not a contradiction, and that TV stations should have the responsibility to handle both tasks.

She added that local dialects play an important role to the preservation of Chinese culture and strengthen the ties that bind Chinese people together in overseas countries.