Netizens’ fury following Chinese crackdown on English abbreviations on TV

BEIJING - A heated debate is underway in China after TV hosts in the country were reportedly ordered to use the Chinese translations for English abbreviations on their programs.

It is believed the restriction will alleviate the concern that too many English abbreviations have mixed with Chinese and soiled the purity of the Chinese language and Chinese culture.

Debating over the issue, Chinese netizens have now raised doubts over the appropriateness of the authorities’ decision.

“Is my ID now in danger?” Xinhua new agency quoted netizen “unluckeyfreak13″, as having written to ridicule the order.

“So, we may have to use ‘moving picture experts group audio layer three’ to refer to the simple ‘mp3′,” netizen “b828″ said.

Sun Zhengping, a famous sports newscaster with state-owned China Central Television (CCTV), confirmed that he had received a notice telling the channels newscasters to refrain from using English abbreviations for words such as “NBA”, “GDP”, “CPI” and “WTO” in their news broadcasts.

Meanwhile, while mentioning the NBA games on the channel’s sports news program on Friday, the newscaster said, “The NBA, namely the National Basketball Association Games of the United States,” instead of the previous practice of simply saying “the NBA”. (ANI)