IN FOCUS
By Keerthana Nambiar

Rise of Mandarin, and a decline in China’s dialects

Recent Developments
On 16 January, The Guardian reported, on the decline of local dialects among the younger Chinese generation. The report said: “Mandarin is now being spoken by more than 80 per cent of China’s population, up from 70 per cent a decade ago.” According to The Guardian, “the decline in local dialects among younger generation has become more apparent in recent years as China’s president Xi Jinping, has sought Mandarin to strengthen a uniform Chinese identity.”

Last year, on 30 November 2021, China’s State Council issued an order to promote Mandarin as the national language.  There is also an aggressive campaign to make Mandarin spoken by 85 per cent of the Chinese by 2025. The circular released by the Ministry of Education (as reported by the China Daily) calls for “wider access to standardized Chinese education in ethnic minority areas, and urged the protection of the spoken and written languages of ethnic minorities as well as the improvement of their quality of education.”

The long march towards standardizing Mandarin
For centuries, China has advocated the need for Mandarin to be a standard language over the regional dialects. Under the People’s Republic of China, the government undertook massive efforts to increase Mandarin literacy and fluency with a heavy emphasis on the younger generation.

Due to the state policies, the Chinese dialects are declining. In 2000, the Chinese government passed laws to standardize Mandarin Chinese as the spoken and written language. The promotion of Mandarin over other dialects sparked protests among the ethnic population in China. Soon the government crushed all the protests. The criticisms were regarding the changes made to the education and employment system minimizing the role of minority languages. The dialects such as Shanghainese are in precarious situations since then. Apart from this, the Chinese government also promotes Mandarin through the worldwide network of Confucius Institutes which can be considered as an attempt to promote the Communist Party’s agenda.

‘One State, One People, One Language.’
The narrative run by the Communist Party of China is that language conformity can bring national and economic unity. The standardization of Mandarin Chinese is supposed to unite the Chinese population allowing China’s economic and political stability to strengthen. The concept of ‘One State, One People, One Language’ language reform integrates mainland China. The reform starts with teachers teaching elementary, middle, and high schools training the younger generations with Mandarin as a standard language. This standardization started building connections across China among the linguistically and culturally divided population.

Decline of the dialects
China is trying to exchange important aspects of Chinese culture and history for economic and political prosperity. The Guardian reported that dialects of Han majority and ethnic languages such as Mongolian and Uyghur have seriously been affected.  Due to current language policy, non-mandarin media are in decline, and the citizens are exposed to the visible benefits of speaking standard Mandarin Chinese. The state promotes language reform as a means for discouraging regionalism and linguistic divisions in China. Among the various criticisms, ‘the card of national unity via language trumps all’ works among the Chinese citizens.

References
“Chinese dialects in decline as government enforces Mandarin,” The Guardian, 16 January 2022
“85% of China's population to speak Mandarin by 2025,” China Daily, 2 December 2021

IN BRIEF
By Dincy Adlakha and Avishka Ashok

INTERNAL
Hong Kong plans to reopen in early 2024 to avoid exodus
On 26 January, The Asahi Shimbun reported on a draft report by Hong Kong’s European Chamber of Commerce. The report signaled that the city will reopen its borders only in early 2024. The tight COVID-19 restrictions are to stay in place till then. This is done to avoid a jeopardizing exodus of foreign firms and staff. Speculations also ay that the city is waiting for Chinese indegenus mRNA vaccine to roll out for the population. This will avoid the risk of a “cascade effect” where financial firms will leave the city and cause a fluctuation in the Asian financial hub. (“Hong Kong may maintain COVID isolation until 2024, risking exodus--Euro chamber,” The Asahi Shimbun, 26 January 2022)

President Xi sends a congratulatory letter for the China Media Group Forum
On 26 January, a forum themed “Together for a High-tech Winter Olympics” was hosted by the China Media Group for the first time. President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter for the forum and said that he hoped “participants of the forum will pool their wisdom and exchange ideas to better demonstrate the charm of ice and snow sports, promote the Olympic spirit and push forward the development of Winter Olympic sports.” (“Xi extends congratulations on opening of CMG forum,” Xinhua Net, 26 January 2022)

ECONOMY
China’s central bank conducts reverse repos of 200 billion to maintain liquidity
On 27 January, Xinhua reported that the People’s Bank of China conducted 200 billion yuan reverse repos in order to maintain liquidity in in the Chinese banking system. The central bank informed that the interest rate for this 14-day reverse repos was fixed as 2.25 percent. This move is strategically planned before the Spring Festival.  (“China's central bank conducts 200 bln yuan of reverse repos,” Xinhua Net, 27 January 2022)

REGIONAL
Green Channel between China and Mongolia records trade worth USD 17.4 million
On 26 January, Xinhua Net reported that the fruit and vegetable export from China to Mongolia accounted for 85,000 tonnes and was worth USD 17.4 million in 2021. The products reached the land-locked country through Erenhot port which is the largest port between the two countries. The trade has been successful due to the green channel for agricultural products that was launched in 2018. Through the green channel, China has been supplying 30 kinds of fruits and vegetables such as apples, oranges, lemons, onions, peppers and cucumbers. In 2021, the countries further streamlined the clearance procedure to overcome the obstacles created by the pandemic and kept the supply chain running throughout the year. (“N China land port facilitates fruit, vegetable exports to Mongolia, Xinhua Net, 26 January 2022)

INTERNATIONAL
Experts refute possibility of smoothening ties with Lithuania by name change
On 26 January, Global Times published an article that cited experts from various think tanks. The expert opined that china-Lithuania ties cannot improve if Lithuania simply changes the name of the Taiwanese representative office opened in Lithuania. According to them, the issue is deeper than name of the office. Sources reported that the Lithuanian foreign minister had urged the president to modify the name last week. However, Chinese experts do not seem convinced with the proposition. The spokesperson for State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office said: “we oppose any action that damages the one-China principle. Hopefully, Lithuania can take real action to right previous wrongs.” (“Lithuania won’t smoothen China ties by mere name change,” Global Times, 26 January 2022)

Chinese Ambassador to Australia encourages friendly relations 
On 26 January, the former Chinese Ambassador to Indonesia and a veteran diplomat Xiao Qian accepted his new role as the Ambassador to Australia. In his inaugural remarks, Ambassador Xiao encouraged China and Australia to work towards friendlier bilateral relations and assume the righteous path towards mutual development. Despite several instances of disagreements between the two countries, he urged Australia to resolve issues and build beneficial ties. He said: “A sound China-Australia relationship serves the fundamental interests of the two countries and two peoples. China and Australia differ in their history, culture, social systems and stages of development, but as long as we adopt a long-term and big-picture perspective, adhere to the principle of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit, and stay firm in the right direction of bilateral relations, the China-Australia relationship will keep moving forward and make further progress.” (“New Chinese ambassador to Australia sends 'goodwill' to reset bilateral ties,” Global Times, 26 January 2022)

Chinese representative to the UN urges humanitarian and economic aid for Afghanistan
On 26 January, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations Zhang Jun addressed the Security Council Meeting and called for more humanitarian and economic assistance to Afghanistan. Zhang blamed the hasty withdrawal by the foreign troops for the abysmal state of the Afghan economy. He made an account of the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan and said: “China calls for a stronger sense of urgency from the international community and more humanitarian and economic assistance to Afghanistan, so as to bring warmth and hope to the Afghan people.”(“Chinese envoy calls for more humanitarian, economic assistance to Afghanistan,” Xinhua Net, 27 January 2022)