TVB has received over 10,000 complaints after it launched a new channel broadcast entirely in Mandarin, using simplified Chinese text.
The new channel, called J5, which was launched earlier this week, broadcasts its programmes during prime time, with all news reports being in Mandarin with simplified Chinese text, says a Ming Pao report. Until the switch, TVB’s English channel Pearl had broadcasted news in Mandarin for years, but with traditional Chinese subtitles.
The decision has raised a public outcry, with over 10,000 complaints being sent to the Communications Authority, reports Ming Pao. Current legislation requires TV channels to provide Chinese subtitles for all news reports broadcast in Chinese, though there is no concrete ruling on whether it must be in traditional or simplified Chinese.
TVB defended its decision in a press release today, stating that the J5 channel is for those who “cannot read traditional Chinese”, and that it seeks to provide more choices for residents in “an international city”, Ming Pao reports.
Critics slammed the response, saying that other international languages common in Hong Kong, such as Korean, Urdu or French, are not favoured in the same manner. Some went further for calling a boycott of the channel over that decision, reports Apple Daily.
This controversy comes at a time when many in Hong Kong have expressed their concern at the ongoing “Mainlandisation” of the city. Recently, there was an outcry after a public consultation document “prompted fears the Education Bureau was planning to replace the use of traditional characters with the simplified ones in teaching”, according to the SCMP.
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