The local government of Foshan, in South China's Guangdong Province, recently unveiled a program to require the use of standard spoken Putonghua in government bodies, schools and media, and discourage the use of traditional Chinese characters in public places.

According to the Guangzhou-based Nandu Daily that originally reported this piece of news and then deleted it from its website, this program requires over 80 percent of TV programs be broadcast in Putonghua and students speak Putonghua and write simplified Chinese characters from kindergarten on.

Deng Canrong, an official with the Foshan government, commented that nearly half of Foshan's population is non-local and so standardizing language would facilitate communication.

The launch of the program has sparked a hot debate among the public and outraged many local residents.

Indeed, most non-locals can hardly understand the local language, Cantonese, and cannot read traditional characters. And the Foshan authorities did have legal support for this program.

The Law of the PRC on the Standard Spoken and Written Chinese Language, which was adopted at the 18th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the Ninth National People's Congress in 2000, went into effect in January 2001. It mandates Putonghua as the national language.

But despite being in line with national policy, the attempt to impose Putonghua has caused widespread controversy. The Foshan authorities failed to take into consideration local people's feelings.

Locals are proud of their Cantonese culture, and view it as an important symbol of their own traditions. Meanwhile, Guangdong has natural and increasingly closer relations with the nearby regions of Hong Kong and Macao.

As quite a number of businesspeople from the two special administrative regions are not familiar with simplified Chinese characters and Putonghua, Guangdong residents are accustomed to mixing simplified and traditional characters.

Such a convention has left Cantonese and traditional Chinese characters into a rival to Putonghua and simplified characters.

And locals see this as part of their cultural identity. Some complain that their kids may no longer be able to talk to their grandparents as a result.

The protest from locals actually reflects that they are trapped in a bitter tug-of-war between two identities, a wider Chinese identity and a local identity.

Programs like the one promoted by the Foshan government may actually prompt a strengthening of local identity.

The Foshan authorities have not made much effort to involve local people in the process of the formulation and promulgation of the program. No issue pertains more to people's everyday life than the language they have to use.

There was apparently a lack of sufficient public participation and discussion regarding the launch of the controversial program. This explains why some view the policy as an arbitrary attempt to destroy local culture rather than a reasonable attempt to make communication easier.

This case can serve as a lesson for local authorities to adjust the methods of social governance. They may get mired down in local resistance and complaints without adequate interaction with the public.

The author is a Global Times reporter. wangxiaonan@globaltimes.com.cn