CONFIDENTIAL
BY BAG
HkK OROLL
RECEIVO
dar
RE ALLEN ESQ
FAR EASTERN DEPARTMENT
ካ
F C O
No.
PIN YIN (CHINESE PHONETIC ALPHABET)
C
14 December 1978
AU O
HK howe
coprès JED
مة
We have noted with interest the recent announcements in Peking that from 1 January 1979 the NCNA and the Chinese M F A will use their own Pin Yin scheme instead of Wade Giles (and most traditional postal terms) for romanizing the names of Chinese persons and places. Personally, as someone brought up on Pin Yin, I am pleased. However, this letter is to put down a marker about the problems which we could face here in adjusting to the change and therefore our interest in being brought into any discussions about how the F C 0, Whitehall generally and others (e.g. the US Government, printed media) intend to revise their own practices in the light of the Chinese decision.
2.
We shall be putting together material for local use to show us what problems we might have and how they might best be tackled locally. Obvious areas are Immigration Department (who will now have to start to cope with new Chinese passports in the new. romanization), records kept by Special Branch, use of Chinese geographical names in Hong Kong Government publications etc. The following points are put down as preliminary and incomplete background information/ comment, primarily as a reminder for myself of points which may need attention here:
(a)
át present Immigration Department file individual visa records by the Wade Giles romanization but, I believe, with a cross reference to the standard Cantonese romanization.
In the longer term, there are plans for Immigration Department's new computer system to store information also in terms of the Chinese commercial code;
CONFIDENTIAL
-/2.
recerong
telo