An Education Ministry official said Saturday that mastering China's official language of Putonghua is vital for effective economic exchanges between the two Special Administrative Regions (SARs) and the Chinese mainland.
Zhang Shiping, a deputy director in charge of the administration of language applications under the Ministry of Education, made the remarks after adjudicating for the Final Contest of the Fifth Guangdong, Hong Kong SAR and Macao SAR Putonghua Competition.
Under the principle of "one country, two systems" policy, the HKSAR is not governed under the law concerning the official use of language and characters of the People's Republic of China, which took effect last year in an effort to beef up efforts in promoting the use of Putonghua across China, Zhang said.
"But needs (for the practical use of the language) are the best impetus to propel the public into studying the language, as Hong Kong and the mainland are intertwined in many relationships, economically and culturally," he said.
"As such the contact between the two sides intensifies, the people of Hong Kong will increasingly feel the needs for closer exchange with the mainland. And the primary tool for communication is language," he said.
Zhang stressed the same applies to Macao SAR and overseas Chinese, as this will contribute to realizing greater economic and cultural development amongst all Chinese in the world.
He also extended his best regards and congratulations to the champions of the two secondary and tertiary education categories.
Mona Lam, a Form Six student from HKSAR's St. Stephen's Girls' College, and Ma Weiwei, a third-year law student at Zhongshan University in Guangdong Province, have snatched this year's championships.
Zhang encouraged the two students to promote the use of the language in their milieu, be it at the school or workplace in the future.
The competition was coordinated by Radio Television Hong Kong, Guangdong People's Radio Station, Foshan Radio Station and Teledifusao de Macao.
(China Daily April 15, 2002)
