法新社10月22日报道Small Chinese character reform triggers big controversy（《小小的汉字改革引发大争议》，摘要如下（英语全文附后）：

　　在汉字的写法发生重大改变的50多年后，一项远没那么雄心勃勃的计划——简化仅仅几十个汉字——在此间引发了巨大的争议。

　　为了“适应信息时代语言生活和社会发展的需要”，有关部门提出了改变44个汉字（约占3500个最常用汉字的1.26%）写法的方案。

　　在经过8年的研究以及与国内外专家的磋商之后，教育部和国家语言文字工作委员会决定就汉字调整方案征求民众的意见——对此类改革而言这是第一次。

　　他们没想到这个方案会引发任何严重的不安：仅仅是这里或那里去掉一笔而已。例如“茶”字的“竖钩”将变成“竖”——在北京的某些店面已经可以注意到这一改变。“新”字的左下部也会有类似的改变。

然而，反对的声音极为强烈，尤其是在互联网上。从中国各大门户网站或报纸网站所做的民意调查来看，80%以上的网民反对这个方案。他们说，这一改革或许只涉及少数汉字，但它们都是常用汉字，其调整将对字典、教科书、标志牌、出版商以及中国人自己产生重要影响。

　　山东一名网民发表评论说：“汉字是几千年来祖先留给我们的宝贵文化遗产。我们应该尊重它们，保护它们，而不是随意改变。”

　　经常在北京组织展览的书法家刘敬波（音）则认为，这些调整并不违背中国的历史。他说：“汉字有悠久的历史，但假如能让人们生活得更轻松，依据一定的原则改革汉字是可能的。”他说：“不过，有许多人，比如老人，反对改革，因为他们习惯了过去的写法。”

　　专家们说，新的争议凸显出公众对中国的书写方式有着强烈感情。在这个拥有多种语言和方言的13亿人口大国中，汉字是将人们联结起来的一个纽带。

　　法国远东学院驻北京的研究员奥利维耶•旺蒂尔说：“秦始皇灭六国后马上采取了一些措施，其中统一汉字并非无足轻重。”他说：“这项措施极为重要——它被视作统一中国文化的纽带，是这个国家的身份认同的一部分。有许多东西改变了，但人们总觉得汉字是不变的，尽管事实上它也一直在演变。”

Small Chinese character reform triggers big controversy
By Francois Bougon (AFP) – 4 days ago
BEIJING — More than 50 years after a major overhaul of the way in which Chinese characters are written, a far less ambitious project to simplify just a few dozen ideogrammes has sparked huge controversy here.
The government has put forward proposals to change 44 characters out of the 3,500 most used, or 1.25 percent of the total, "to adapt to the requirements of the information era, the evolution of language and the development of society."
After eight years of reflection and expert consultations in China and abroad, the education ministry and the State Language Work Committee called on members of the public for their opinions -- a first for such a reform.
The project was not expected to spark any major concerns, with just a few strokes removed from characters here and there.
For example, "cha," or tea, would lose a tiny upward stroke at its base -- a change that is already noticeable on some shopfronts in Beijing.
"Xin," which means new, would also get rid of its little upward line.
But dissenting voices have run riot, particularly on the Internet.
According to polls by major Chinese web portals or newspaper websites, more than 80 percent of online users are opposed to the project.
They say the reform might only affect a few characters, but these are used often and their modification would have an important impact on dictionaries, school books, signs, publishers... and the Chinese themselves.
"Chinese characters are a precious part of the cultural heritage left to us by our ancestors thousands of years ago," one net user in eastern Shandong said in a comment posted on sina.com.
"We should respect them and protect them, not change them on a whim."
Liu Jingbo, a calligraphy professional who regularly organises exhibitions in Beijing, said the changes would not go against the nation's history.
"Chinese characters come from ancient history, but it is possible to reform them, respecting certain rules, if it helps to make life easier for people," he said.
"A lot of people, such as the elderly, are however opposed to this as they were used to these characters."
In the 1950s, when the government decided to simplify more than 2,000 characters, the philologist Chen Mengjia paid dearly for his opposition to this huge reform project.
Accused of being a "rightist" and sent to a labour camp in central China, he subsequently committed suicide in Beijing in 1966 after being subjected to public criticism sessions at the start of the turbulent Cultural Revolution.
Experts say the new controversy highlights the strong public attachment to the Chinese form of writing -- a unifying factor within the massive country of 1.3 billion people, which boasts many languages and dialects.
"Of the first measures taken by the first emperor after he defeated all other kingdoms, the unification of writing was not insignificant," said Olivier Venture, a Beijing-based researcher for the French School of Asian Studies.
"It is extremely important -- it is seen as the bond that unites Chinese culture, as part of the nation's identity. A lot of things change but people can always look to writing, even if in fact it always evolves," he said.
Faced with the surge of protests on the Internet and in the press during the consultation phase in August, the education ministry and the commission decided to wait, saying nothing had been decided and that discussions were ongoing.
"We are civil servants -- our responsibility is to serve the people, and if the people are opposed, we will not budge," Li Ningming, an official at the commission, said in comments broadcast on state television.