China Needs More Names – Jane Macartney

The Ministry of Public Security has drafted a law that would allow children to be called by a combination of their parents’ surnames. Officials say a change in the law would reduce confusion.

From the Times Online:

A_Beijing_200706120114076400_afp.jpg
With more than a billion people sharing little more than 100 surnames, Chinese authorities have a problem differentiating, for instance, between the 1.3 million people called Liu Bo.

Such is the level of confusion that the Ministry of Public Security wants to change the law to allow parents to create double-barrelled surnames for their children. Currently the law states that children are allowed to take the surname of only their mother or father. [Full Text]

CDT EBOOKS

Subscribe to CDT

SUPPORT CDT

Browsers Unbounded by Lantern

Now, you can combat internet censorship in a new way: by toggling the switch below while browsing China Digital Times, you can provide a secure "bridge" for people who want to freely access information. This open-source project is powered by Lantern, know more about this project.

Google Ads 1

Giving Assistant

Google Ads 2

Anti-censorship Tools

Life Without Walls

Click on the image to download Firefly for circumvention

Open popup
X

Welcome back!

CDT is a non-profit media site, and we need your support. Your contribution will help us provide more translations, breaking news, and other content you love.