Guangzhou Television Cantonese controversy
In a formal response, Guangzhou TV rejected the proposal, citing "historic causes and present demands" as reasons for Cantonese-Mandarin bilingualism.
[3] This status was confirmed by the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, which went into effect on January 1, 2001.
Despite having been approved for use in local television, Cantonese still faces restrictions and challenges in other aspects of social activities, which contributes to the decline of the language, particularly in the younger generations.
[9] One elementary school in Yuexiu, Guangzhou reportedly requires students to speak Mandarin not only in classes but also during their spare time, and threatens to deduct points from their records if they fail to comply.
[12][16] Non-Cantonese speakers' name-callings online during debates, such as calling Cantonese as language for "barbarian", "uncivilized", "uneducated" people etc., has further deepened the hostility between the two groups.
In a 2018 report study by Shan Yunming and Li Sheng, the report showed that 90% of people living in Guangzhou are bilingual in both Cantonese and Mandarin, though fluency will vary depending on if they are locally born to the city and the surrounding Guangdong province or migrants from other provinces, which shows how much importance the Cantonese language still has in the city despite the strict policy rules from the government to be using Mandarin as the country's official language.
Stephen Matthews, an associate professor of linguistics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong commented that "It is difficult to calculate the timing but in the medium- to long run, Cantonese is an endangered language".
Peter Kwong, professor of Asian American studies at Hunter College in New York City commented that "Mandarin's ascent comes with the realignment of power in Chinese-American communities, where the recent (non-Cantonese) immigrants are gaining economic and political clout".
[1] Prior to submission of the proposal to the local government, in June 2010, the CPPCC Guangzhou Committee conducted an online survey on GZTV's broadcasting on its website.
[30] Responses to the CPPCC Guangzhou Committee's proposal were generally negative, especially those from local citizens and netizens; only a minority of reactions were positive.
[1][29][31] In response to media interviews, local citizens expressed concerns about the possibility of Cantonese being lost, particularly in the younger generations, although there were also more optimistic and neutral opinions.
[33] On July 11, 2010, a group of youngsters carried out a flashmob-style gathering in the People's Park in Guangzhou to promote Cantonese, singing famous 1980s Cantopop.
[1] Chen Yang, who is celebrated by local television audience for his blunt criticism of government policies and behaviors when hosting News Eyes for GZTV since the show's inception in February 2004 until being forced to leave in December 2008, sighed, "Cantonese is in degeneracy...
"[1] Zhan Bohui, honorary director of Jinan University's Chinese Dialect Research Centre, defended the proposal, declaring that increasing Mandarin was to cater to the migrant population in Guangzhou, to whom Cantonese was unintelligible.
[1] Ji Keguang, the most prominent proponent of the proposal, when requested for comment on the 90% agreement to Cantonese programming in the online survey, responded with "They need guidance", which eventually put him at the center of criticism from local citizens and netizens.
[43] The remark was interpreted by the Hong Kong-based Apple Daily as the authorities maintaining a hard-line stance against popular calls to protect Cantonese.
Meanwhile, he still encouraged local citizens to master Mandarin and use the language on formal occasions and in public places, reflecting the government's policy of promoting it.
[2][16] In a formal response, Guangzhou TV rejected the proposal, citing "historic causes and present demands" as reasons for Cantonese-Mandarin bilingualism.
[50] On 18 and 19 September 2010, Hong Kong activist Cai Shufang and blogger Zhong Shuangyu led the global Cantonese supporting assembly.
