As one basic category of personal rights, the right to a name also needs to be disciplined to maintain its essence as part of personal information. Just like traffic rules help maintain order on the streets, simple names indicating strong personality and deep family roots will be better for parents.

Parents' right

Bi Xiaozhe (hlj.rednet.cn): Once the naming list is implemented, people with names including characters beyond the list will face difficulties in identity registration with the authorities. However, the Constitution enshrines citizens' right to a name. The General Principle of Civil Law also contains explicit stipulations on people's right to make, use and change their names in accordance with the law, and says that the right brooks no interference by any organization or individual.

The misuse of characters is also a result of educational underdevelopment in China. Despite decades of efforts to popularize education, the country still has a large illiterate and semi-literate population, especially in poverty-stricken rural areas. Many residents in those areas might never know that the characters they put in their children's names are not officially accepted. Authorities and language experts must first think more about ensuring their access to basic education, rather than simply creating a restrictive list that definitely hampers the right to a name.

Yang Guodong (www.qianlong.com): China's new ID Card Law that took effect at the beginning of 2004 clarifies that personal information on ID cards, names included, must use standard Chinese characters. The standard Chinese characters mentioned in the law of course do not refer only to the 8,000 characters on the soon-to-come list. Without restricting specific characters used on ID cards, all characters in presently used Chinese dictionaries are applicable, regardless of their unusualness.

China is a populous nation with quite a number of people sharing the same surnames. To distinguish their children, parents name them with uncommon characters. This is justifiable as long as these characters still exist.

Liang Fafu (www.china.com.cn): Knowing clearly that names using common characters can facilitate communication and administration, all parents will try their best to observe this principle when naming their children. Such a customary regulation is more effective than any ban issued by the government. More importantly, strict limitations on allowable characters in names may lead to the emergence of a large number of identical names, adding to administrative difficulties.

Like its characters, China is rich in history and tradition. While it might be practical to standardize a language for administrative expedience, this should never be done at the expense of personal rights.

Xu Guangmu (Morning Post): Culture develops through innovation rather than standardization. For instance, some of the Chinese characters most frequently used today might have been considered unusual in ancient times. Common or unusual, these characters were coined within the culture they developed and must be cherished, not compromised.

Tao Duanfang (Xinmin Evening News): Some language experts have attempted to justify the mandatory naming list by saying that the 8,000 characters can form enough combinations for the public's needs. This is totally illogical. For example, there are a large number of restaurants in cities. But no one has therefore suggested a ban on cooking at home. Officials must respect people's freedom of choice.

Chinese characters are an ancient form of communication and represent one of the most widely spoken native languages. While restrictions on naming may tame the use of nearly obsolete ancient characters, individuals should still retain the right to name their offspring.