A South China Morning Post (March 13) article disclosed that Xu Jin, a Delegate to the CPPCC, had last week suggested that the government remove English as a core subject in compulsory education and as a requirement for university entrance examinations, said learning English, or any other foreign language, was a waste of time and resources. He said at a press conference that it took up about 10 per cent of class hours, but was only useful for less than 10 per cent of graduates at work. He also argued that mobile phones and other smart AI-enabled devices could provide increasingly sophisticated translation services that could help students better than current English classes. His proposal went viral online and generated heated debates. Citing an online survey by the China Youth Daily newspaper, the China Daily reported last (March 9) that more than 110,000 respondents opposed Xu Jin’s proposal and said English should be taught early to enable China to compete with other countries. But a similar number of people backed the idea and said it would be better to spend more time learning the Chinese language and culture.

(Comment: The proposal reflects the surge in nationalism in China under Xi Jinping.)