Chinese police have confirmed the detention of three people for disrupting public order during a weekend rally in Guangzhou for the preservation of Cantonese.
Hundreds of people protested in the capital of Guangdong Province on Sunday for the second week in a row. Across the border in Hong Kong, about 200 demonstrators marched to the city’s government headquarters.
Concerns rose last month when a political advisory body proposed that local television stations switch from Cantonese to Mandarin for prime-time shows before Guangzhou hosts the Asian Games in November.
Rumors
“Most of the participants have believed in rumors [that Cantonese would be abolished] and taken part in the rally, but a few people with criminal records joined the rally to intentionally stir affrays,” police said in a statement.
“We hope citizens and netizens will not believe in such rumors and take part in illegal activities, and help us to create a safe Asian Games and a harmonious city,” said the statement, which was issued late on Monday.
Two men aged 19 and 25, along with a 42-year-old woman, have been held on suspicion of disrupting public order, causing affray and sparking traffic jams, police said.
Hundreds of police were deployed to disperse protesters who gathered on Sunday in Guangzhou’s People’s Park to call on authorities to preserve the Cantonese language and culture, Hong Kong broadcasters RTHK and Cable TV reported.
Chinese state media, citing police, said the protest was illegal because organizers had not obtained the proper permit.
Abolition
The city government reiterated on Monday that there were no plans for the “universal abolition of Cantonese” and that the municipal government had no policies to “repeal Cantonese” or “weaken Cantonese.”
Cantonese is the mother tongue for an estimated 70 million people in Hong Kong, Macau and Guangdong Province, and is widely spoken in overseas Chinese communities.
Adopting China’s official language for TV programming would promote unity, “forge a good language environment” and cater to non-Cantonese-speaking Chinese visitors at the Asian Games, authorities were quoted as saying last month.
The Asian Games, to be staged from Nov. 12 to Nov. 27, is the second-largest sports event in the world after the Summer Olympics.
More than 14,000 athletes, trainers and coaches from 45 countries and regions will compete in 42 sports during the Games.
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