English Removed from Beijing Road Signs
"A Strong Signal of Cutting Ties with the West"
Reports have emerged that China is replacing all English on road signs in its capital, Beijing, with Chinese characters.
Previously, China had also replaced English phrases on subway guide signs with Chinese pinyin. Analysts interpret this as a strengthening of President Xi Jinping's 'English ban,' which includes prohibiting English classes and regulating foreign textbooks.
Traffic signs posted on the Beijing Municipal Transportation Department website Photo by Beijing Municipal Transportation Department website capture
On the 4th, Taiwan's Liberty Times cited the U.S. Radio Free Asia, reporting that "Beijing authorities are replacing all bilingual Chinese-English road signs with Chinese only."
It also reported that discussions with the theme "Beijing has taken the first step" continue to appear on Chinese social media platforms such as Weibo, TikTok, Sohu, and Wangyi.
When searching on Baidu, China's largest portal site, many posts confirm that "the Beijing Municipal Transportation Department announced it will replace all Chinese-English road signs with Chinese only to improve road safety and traffic efficiency."
Indeed, on the Beijing Municipal Transportation Department's official website, traffic signs are shown with Chinese only, without English.
This is not the first time a trend to distance from English has been detected in China.
Last year, about a month before the Beijing Winter Olympics, CNN reported that Chinese authorities replaced English on Beijing subway guide signs with Chinese pinyin.
'Pinyin' refers to the Romanized phonetic notation of Chinese characters. Accordingly, the subway station sign 'station' was changed from English to the Chinese pinyin 'zhan.' Additionally, 'Olympic Park' at the Olympic Park was changed to 'Aolinpike Gongyuan,' and 'Terminal 2' at Beijing Airport's Terminal 2 was changed to '2 Hao Hangzhanlou.'
Education Sector... Excluding English Scores from University Graduation Requirements and Abolishing Elementary School English Exams
The education sector has also consistently implemented policies banning the use of English.
In September, Xi'an Jiaotong University became the first prestigious Chinese university to announce that English exam scores would no longer be a requirement for undergraduate graduation and bachelor's degree conferral. Chinese media Jimu News reported this news, stating "This is not surprising" and explaining that "other schools are doing the same."
In 2021, Shanghai education authorities abolished elementary school English final exams to reduce students' academic burden. Some representatives of the National People's Congress (NPC) in certain regions have even proposed eliminating English as a core subject in school and university entrance exams.
According to Hong Kong's South China Morning Post (SCMP), China announced regulations in 2020 banning the use of foreign textbooks in primary and secondary schools. Foreign teachers outside China were also prohibited from conducting online English classes, and surveillance of schools offering international curricula was reportedly intensified.
Some interpret these moves as an expansion of President Xi Jinping's 'English ban,' which he has been promoting for several years. Since taking office, President Xi has pursued policies emphasizing 'cultural confidence' and strengthening traditional Chinese culture and nationalism.
Liberty Times commented, "Recently, President Xi and U.S. President Joe Biden met but failed to reach an agreement, so the Chinese Communist Party continues to turn left," adding, "Changing subway station English names to Chinese pinyin and replacing road signs are major signals of cutting ties with the West."
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